The Rabbit and the Raven
by Alice Nightray
Summary: Gil realizes his chain Raven is holding one of Alice's memories about him and Alice as a young couple back in Sabrie. The Will of the Abyss and the truth about who killed Alice cause trouble. T for a pretty dodgy bit in the first chapter. GilxAlice
1. The Rabbit and the Raven

Author's note: I cam up with this story after a very surreal dream I had which I don't remember now (I'm not sure if i'm happy about that or not), but I just started writing and came out with this.

* * *

Alice had just taken off her boots and her red coat to get ready for bed when Gil walked into her bedroom and locked the door behind him.

"What are you doing, seaweed head? Get out!" she shouted.

"I'm sorry" he replied, "I have something that belongs to you. I only realized I had it recently, and I was afraid to give it back earlier because I was afraid of how you would react. You are so unpredictable" he laughed, but it was a gentle laugh. Alice was confused. Gil was usually so hostile, now he was being… kind, caring. Nice!

"What? Give what back?"

"It turns out my chain, Raven, was holding one of your memories". Gil paused and black feathers began to fall through the air.

"Take your memory back, my Alice" Gil said.

_My Alice?_ She had time to think before the memory engulfed them both.

***

_A human Alice and a young Gil sat next to each other on a sofa in Alice's tower room. Jack was walking with Vincent in the grounds, and the two were alone. Softly, Gil stroked Alice's blushing cheek. They were holding hands. They weren't saying anything – just being together was enough. Gil was so thrilled he had found someone who didn't make fun of his tears or call his beloved brother a freak or a curse. Alice was so thrilled she had found someone who didn't hate or pity her, and who let her be herself._

_Suddenly, Gil began to lean towards her, seeking out her lips. Yes! She thought, but another voice in her head screamed No!_

"_What about Jack?" the Will of the Abyss screamed, "If you kiss Gil, Jack won't come to play anymore! And if Jack leaves, do you think the fickle heart of a young boy will stay? What about-"_

"_Jack" Alice finished her twin's sentence, and Gil stopped leaning towards her, pulling as far away as possible, tears flooding his golden eyes. Alice realized he thought she was stating her preference between the two._

"_No!" she shouted, but he was already walking to the door._

"_I understand," he said, and the door slammed shut. She broke into tears that coursed hot and shameful down her cheeks. The pain in her chest was unbearable. Her heart was broken. No, shattered. Unfixable. Burying her face in her hands, she screamed to the empty room over and over again "No!"_

_She heard the sound of Jack rushing up the stairs to see what was wrong, when suddenly-_

"_Alice? What's wrong?" Cheshire asked, two worried eyes staring into her tear-filled ones._

"_Alice is crying. Alice is crying" the dolls around her chattered. The will of the Abyss was now in Alice's body in the other world with her Jack, and Alice had nothing. Not even Cheshire would be able to fix her._

_***_

The chain realized her eyes were hot and wet, and that the servant was holding her in his arms in a comforting hug. He was looking at her with loving adoration. They both felt the love that had been theirs a hundred years ago. It was stronger than the bonds that bound them to their master and contractor Oz. Gil looked down at her and was suddenly overwhelmed with desire.

"My Alice" he whispered, undoing the ribbon around her neck. Taking no chances, he quickly leaned in and kissed her with a passion that could have killed them both. It was a kiss they had been waiting a hundred years for, and it was perfect. Gil pulled away and Alice ripped his shirt off, revealing a long scar across his chest. Slowly, she kissed the scar, moving down along the faded red line, then ran her tongue back up, sending shivers down Gil's spine. He took her by the shoulders and laid her down on the bed. He began to unbutton her shirt one button at a time as she lay there staring at him, violet eyes wide with anticipation.

"My Alice" he repeated, and her heart pounded with delight.

"Gil" she replied, and the way she said his name sent fireworks through him. As she sat up to kiss him, he slipped off her shirt and took her in his strong arms, and kissed her with such force she couldn't breathe. Pulling him down to lay over her, she kissed him again. So the night continued as their worlds dissolved in undying lethal passion.

Sharon, Break and Oz stared in shock as Gil and Alice walked into breakfast together, his arm protectively around her shoulders. They stared even harder when Gil helped Alice into her chair, kissed the top of her head, and sat down next to her. They stared harder still, when Alice gave him such a dazzling, loving smile that he blushed, reached out and pulled her towards him to kiss her.

Later, when Oz was elsewhere, most likely reading in the library, and Sharon had abducted Alice for a 'walk in the grounds', most likely so that Sharon could continue teaching her lessons in romance, especially since her pupil had learned so much, Break called Gil up to his office.

"It appears you and B-Rabbit have developed quite a relationship, doubtless due to the memory your chain was holding". Gil said nothing, but waited quietly for Break to continue. Break sighed and said "What do you intend to do about Oz-kun?"

Gil scowled but still said nothing. Break sighed again. "When the needle on Oz-kun's seal completes its revolution, the two will both be dragged into the Abyss, and you will have neither master nor lover. How will you choose when you have no choice at all?" Break pulled a lollipop from him pocket, unwrapped it, and began to chew thoughtfully.

"Who says I have no choice?"  
"I do" Break responded, "You are going to lose the one you love to both masters. First you lost her to Jack, now you will lose her to Oz-kun"

"Shut up, Break!" Gil shouted, and stormed out of the office, slamming the door behind him. Muttering to himself, he hurried back to his room. He was sure he could still feel Break's stare through the door. Finally, he got to the corridor where the bedrooms were, and he could no longer feel Break's gaze. Suddenly, he stopped outside his bedroom door. Something felt wrong. He slowly opened the door and froze. Sat on his bed was a pretty young girl with violet eyes and side plaits in her hair. But the girl's hair and dress were white.

"We finally get to meet, Gil!" the Will of the Abyss said.

* * *

A/N: Please review and tell me what you think! I'll try and get the next chapter uploaded soon!


	2. White Rabbit

A/N: The Will of the Abyss has just appeared in Gil's room! What does she want?

* * *

"So, you're the one who's been making by beloved sister so happy?" the Will of the Abyss asked, cautiously walking towards Gil, who didn't seem to be capable of moving. Reaching up, she trailed her fingers down his pale face, pausing briefly over his golden right eye. Gil wanted to say something – anything – but he was frozen in fear.

"Don't hurt her this time," the Will of the Abyss whispered. "You and Vincent have such a strong connection. Because we are twins, we have an even stronger connection." Suddenly, they were surrounded by blackness, and the girl had been replaced by a white rabbit with a blue bow around her neck, who seemed to be crying blood from her enormous black eyes.

"I felt her heart break. I cried with her, and when she heard Jack coming, I took over her body to spare her the shame! Everyone thinks I hate her, but I don't! I just want to protect her!" Gil could feel the blood from her eyes running down his cheeks, and he was suddenly reminded of his first meeting with the Will of the Abyss, when Alice had regained her second memory.

* * *

A/N: See episode seven. XD

* * *

The Will of the Abyss paused, and the blackness faded away, revealing his room. A white-haired girl stood before him.

"If you love her, why did you try to take Oz from her?" he shouted, furious. The girl smiled and shrugged.

"He looked so much like Jack, and I got jealous. Jack always preferred me. I thought Oz would as well."

"But… when did Alice become so… cold and cruel?"

"Just after the events in the memory you returned to her last night. She felt she could no longer trust anyone, and started to reject everyone. Even me." The Will of the Abyss's voice had gone very quiet, and her fringe had fallen over her eyes. _She is so much like Alice_, Gil thought, feeling sick that he had hurt his love so much.

"It was also Alice who took your friend's eye for Cheshire," The young girl whispered quietly. "She wanted to give something to Cheshire so that he wouldn't hurt her the way you did". Suddenly, she looked up, and her eyes burned with an anger that even Alice would be hard-pressed to match on her most irritable days.

"Be careful with her this time!"

* * *

Sharon was part way through explaining something about the bond between lovers, but Alice wasn't paying attention – she was too busy thinking about last night. As she was thinking, she became aware of a tugging in her heart – a deeper bond than the one Sharon seemed to be describing, pulling her back to the house. Sharon noticed Alice's hesitation, and stopped.

"Alice-san?" she asked. Alice whispered something under her breath, a look of horror dawning on her face. Sharon only caught "…Abyss…", and then the chain was running back to the house as if someone would die in the next ten seconds if she didn't.

"I would never hurt Alice!" Gil shouted back, "If you hadn't interfered, worrying about Jack, Alice would never have been hurt in the first place! I would never hurt her in that way again!"

"Really?" the blood-spattered white rabbit before him asked, slowly moving around him.

* * *

A/N: 'Blood-spattered White Rabbit' is NOT the Will of the Abyss's alternative to Bloodstained Black Rabbit! It is just a description of what she looks like in rabbit form! Although if anyone wants to use it in thier stories, feel free :)

* * *

"What would you give for Alice? Your life? Your brother? Your master? Your contract with Raven? How about your right eye? Cheshire recovered well, but his vision has been off recently." The girl now standing before him now reached up, and placed a palm over his right eye. Gil paled at the thought of the cat-chain, who had apparently survived their encounter in a world made entirely of Alice's memories.

"Goodbye, Gilbert. Give my love to my sister. I hope we shall meet again soon." Gently, she kissed his cheek, and vanished.

Alice burst in through the door. Gil stood frozen, his back to her.

"Gil?" she asked nervously, but he didn't respond. Slowly, she walked towards him. His normally pale face was as white as her sister's hair, and he was trembling so much it was a wonder he didn't collapse. He was staring into nothing. She touched his cheek gently, and he moved away so fast she didn't actually see the movement. One second he was standing in front of her, next he was pressed against the wall looking at her with absolute terror, hand protectively over his right eye. Misery and confusion ran through her, and her heart ached. Bit by bit, though, he relaxed, and finally spoke.

"Your sister sends her love."

"She was really here?"

A new voice made them both jump.

"Yes, it appears that the Will of the Abyss still cares for you, Alice." Break said, leaning against the wardrobe doors.

"How long have you been there, clown?" Alice demanded angrily.

"From the beginning of Gil's conversation with you sister. Although I was hidden in the wardrobe for the duration of the conversation. I don't think it would have gotten very far if they knew I was listening."

Gil couldn't help but notice that Break was keeping his empty left eye socket, covered by his snow white hair, slightly turned away from the agitated chain.

"Alice-san!" Sharon screamed, and almost suffocated her friend in a concerned hug. "Are you all right? What's happened?"

"The Will of the Abyss is still in this world," Alice replied icily. "But I don't know why."

"Has anyone else noticed who's missing?" Break asked.

* * *

Oz was sat in one of the comfiest chairs in the library, reading a book about pirates which was just starting to get interesting, when a soft breath tickled his ear, and a gentle voice spoke.

"I don't like these books much but I suppose they're better than the books Sharon gave my sister. Anyway, you do prefer treasure hunting, don't you?"

Oz spun around in his chair so fast that he got dizzy, and fell to the floor. The Will of the Abyss sat down next to him.

"Why are you so much like Jack?"

* * *

A/N: Sorry the ending to the second chapter was too much like the ending to the first, but I got a bucket load of coursework and I kinda had to sort out my priorities. As soon as I'm done with that I'll try and create a third chapter with a more original ending.


	3. Paper cuts

A/N: Sorry it's been while, but college has been killing me. Here's the next chapter.

* * *

"Damn it!" Gil shouted, "We need oz to unseal B-Rabbit's power!" The group were running towards the library as fast as they could, hoping to get there before Oz could get hurt.

* * *

Oz shrank away from the Will of the Abyss's outstretched hand. He groped mentally for the band that was Raven's seal. Finding it, he slipped it off.

* * *

Alice gasped as she felt her powers returning to her, and Gil gasped as he felt his left hand ache and the seal slip off.

"Yes!" Alice shrieked, a primal scream of triumph, and then she was gone.

* * *

Oz shrank back as the giant Black rabbit appeared out of nowhere and held a scythe towards the tiny white-haired girl.

"Stay away from Oz!"

"So quick to come to his rescue," the Will of the Abyss mused, running a finger over the scythe's blade. Blood ran in small trickles over the blade and dropped to the floor.

"I wonder if it's Gil you really love" she laughed and vanished. Alice changed back into the photo negative of her sister. She had her back to Oz, so he couldn't see her face, but he could see her trembling.

"Alice?" he whispered. Slowly, she crouched down and touched the blood drops on the floor. She turned and showed him her bloodstained fingertip.

"She was really here,"

"Oz!" the door slammed open, and Gil burst in, with Break and Sharon close behind him. Gil ran towards the two, but knocked Alice out of the way, so she bumped her head on the wall.

"Are you all right, Oz?" he said, keeling down before his precious master.

"I'm fine, Gil," Oz smiled and laughed. Gil relaxed slightly, then placed his hand on Oz's head and master, servant and chain felt the seal slip onto Alice's powers again.

"Are you sure you're all right, Oz?" Gil continued his questioning.

Alice suddenly felt crippling loneliness grip her heart. Her lover and her manservant were both checking on each other, but neither thinking to check on her. Scowling, she stalked out of the library. Neither of her men turned to look. Sharon made a move to follow her, but Break placed a carefully restraining hand on her shoulder.

"Perhaps we had better allow Alice-san to compose herself before continuing with the lesson," he whispered, red eye on Alice's rapidly disappearing form. Sharon nodded in agreement, then reached over and closed the library door.

* * *

"So you really question their feelings for each other?" Sharon asked, shocked.

"Yes. I think that they are confusing strong memories of love for the real thing. Who knows? Maybe they did love each other briefly after that memory, but I doubt they really are in love." Break leaned back and closed his eye. "I think they both care about Oz-kun too much. Gil because Oz was his best friend and role model growing up and is his best friend now. Alice because Oz is so kind to her and because he saved her from the Abyss."

Sharon took a sip from her teacup and set it delicately on the table. Break's sat untouched beside it. The cakes plate beside it, however, was empty.

"Break, I want you to let me handle this."

Break laughed, "You're worried that I'll pull some silly prank to wind everyone up even more? Trust me, I'll leave this up to the expert."

* * *

"Alice-san?" Sharon knocked shyly on the chain's bedroom door, before walking in. Alice was curled up under the blankets in the middle of the bed.

"Alice-san?" Sharon repeated, and this time the chain sat up and looked at her.

"Are you okay?" Sharon sat on the edge of the bed, worried by the emptiness behind the violet eyes.

"Let's go and talk somewhere." Sharon said, gently pulling the clearly depressed chain out of the room.

The two sat in Sharon's little study, full of her bibles of romance.

"So, Alice-san. Tell me all about it"

Alice looked at her concerned friend for a minute and reluctantly began to open up.

"It's always been Oz and Gil, and they never seem to include me," she hesitated and looked at Sharon, who nodded encouragingly, then continued.

"Gil always hated me and when he finally stares being nice, he runs straight back to Oz, and Oz is always smiling at him and always talking to him and he never pays any attention to me. He's my manservant and if seaweed head is his servant, then he's my sub-manservant so he should pay even more attention to me…" Alice's ranting continued, and she was so caught up in it that she didn't see Sharon's hand move towards the large pile of paper, or start to fold the top sheet up.

Bang! Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang!

Bang!

"You can't own a man, Alice," Sharon said, dropping the '-san' now that they were friends enough. She stood over the now semi-conscious chain, paper fan clutched in her fist. "You have to give them room to live their own lives, not just entertain yours."

Violet eyes stared into pink.

"I don't want to be alone anymore," Alice whispered. Sharon knelt beside her, uncertain of whether to hug Alice, whose eyes were rapidly filling with tears.

"Alice…"

"Sharon-oneesama!" Alice launched herself into the hug of her friend and, by all rights, sister, and finally began to cry away the knot of loneliness that had tied up her heart for so long.

* * *

A/N: Hmm. AlicexSharon as a pairing in another fanfic? Anyway, now that it's the holidays I'll try to get the next chapter done as soon as possible/


	4. So, smile

A/N: My apologies for the extremely late upload of this new chapter, but between coursework and computer problems, I have had very few opportunities. It has been while since I've done any writing, so I apologise if this chapter isn't as good as you were hoping. It is largely based around epidode 15, Who Killed Poor Alice, and the memories from Cheshire's world. Enjoy.

* * *

Alice was still trying to rub the traces of tears from her cheeks when she stepped out of Sharon's study a few hours later. She felt... strange. Lighter, somehow. Her heart didn't seem as cold anymore. Her vision blurred with tears again, and she frantically tried to rub them away before anyone could see her. She still had to try and appear tough in front of everyone else.

"Alice?" a familiar voice called from behind. She froze.

"Leave me alone"

"Alice, are you okay? Your voice sounds funny – like you've been crying"

"Leave me alone, Oz!" Alice spun around and screamed at him. Oz gasped. Alice's eyes were red, and she had dirty streaks on her cheeks. She had definitely been crying. Without even thinking, Oz ran up to her and almost crushed her in his arms, and refused to let go while she struggled to get away. He didn't relax his grip until she stopped struggling and swearing and slowly, uncertainly, put her arms around him. They stood together for a few minutes, wrapped in each other's arms. Alice stood, her ears pressed against his chest, against the seal, listening to his heartbeat. She found that she liked the sound. Suddenly, it seemed sad that she had not given Oz more hugs like this, and she sighed, a small sad sigh.

With that sigh came memories. Memories of Cheshire's world. Memories of destruction. Memories of when Oz had used B-Rabbit's power to try and destroy Cheshire's world, so that he could protect Cheshire. Unknowingly, both of them reflected together on what they both had said.

"_I'll destroy it for her... The things that make Alice sad and hurt her... All of it... So, smile... Hey, Alice, my precious Alice..."_

"_I'm scared... That I'm not human... That I'm different from other chains... I'm scared of the things I don't know... Of the things I already know... And I am always afraid of the being I call 'myself' more than anyone else..."_

Oz flinched at the recalled words, and Alice felt her eyes begin to burn with tears again. Oz began to tremble, and clutched at his precious Alice even tighter as he remembered he had almost killed her, and as he remembered what he has thought in response to Alice's last thought...

"_I don't think anything like that... For the insecurity Alice is feeling, I won't throw words like that at her... Alice... Alice... I didn't know her when she was human, but I understand the Alice now... She gets angry on a whim, likes to kick people, and has a bad mouth... But she's actually kind and easily moved to tears..."_

"_Stop it. I want to keep sleeping like this..."_

"_She's also dim-witted sometimes, and surprisingly gluttonous..."_

"A glutton?" Alice said in perfect sync with her memory. Both of them were so caught up in the memory, neither realized she had spoken out loud.

"_She's not Alice because she's a human... She's not Alice because she's a chain... Her behaviour, her way of thinking, her facial expressions... All those individual characteristics express the fact that Alice is..."_

"Alice" Oz finished aloud.

"_I'm watching properly, so... So it's fine for Alice to just be Alice!"_

"Oz?" Alice asked uncertainly.

"Alice?" Oz smiled as Alice began to cry again.

"You really are a useless servant" she shouted, and Oz laughed, and then hugged her even harder as she dissolved into fresh tears.

"_She's warm... She's different from the Alice back then... She's properly alive... I'm glad..."_

After she had stopped, Oz let Alice go. He couldn't deny she was adorable, even beautiful, stood before him, trying to rub the tears from her eyes. She finally got rid of them all, and looked at him, with her wide, violet eyes, her mouth turned down into a cute little frown. Oz placed his hand in her cheek, and leaned towards her.

"Smile..." and kissed her.

Alice kissed him back, but not with the passion she had kissed Gil with. Oz's kiss was different to Gil's. It was more apologetic, uncertain, sweeter, and somehow more loving. Alice found herself wondering why Oz couldn't have kissed her like this before Gil came into her room. Had it only been last night? Oz broke the kiss, blushing and refusing to make eye contact.

"Sorry", he whispered. Giving her one last brief hug, he walked quickly away.

Oz couldn't help thinking of Jack's description of Cheshire as he walked hurriedly away from his precious Alice.

"_Surely, he wanted to become that kind of person... The kind that protects a loved one until the end... The one and only knight..."_

And of Cheshire's final words to Alice...

"_Those who make you sad... Those who hurt you... All of them, Cheshire will..."_ Oz knew that Cheshire would have said 'Destroy them'. After all, he had said almost exactly the same thing earlier. And did he not want to protect Alice to the end? To be her one and only knight? He almost felt sorry for Cheshire, after all Cheshire had only cared for Alice. In that way, they were the same. But it was Alice's response to Cheshire's promise that ran through his mind the most. All she had said was "You are...", but Oz was willing to bet that sentence ended in 'My precious friend'.

Oz looked out the window, and saw Gil walking back up to the front door of the mansion, undoubtedly back from visiting Vincent.

"Gil," Oz said, even though his devoted servant could not hear him, "I will protect her until the end"

* * *

A/N: One day, someone will kiss me like that. I hope you enjoyed it. Hopefully, I'll be able to get the next chapter uploaded much, much sooner.


	5. Kitten

A/N: STUDY LEAVE! Now I can do all the writing I want! Hopefully, I'll be able to get a few more chapters done.

* * *

"Gil!" Oz called cheerfully, as his servant opened the front door. Gil looked up, and smiled.

_I wonder what he was talking to Vincent about_ he thought.

Alice heard Gil come through the door, and ran down the stairs to greet him. Oz was already in the hall, and they both turned when they heard her coming. She was half way down, when a pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around her waist, and a pair of claws dug into her hips. Both Oz and Gil's eyes widened in shock, and then Oz was running up the stairs shouting her name.

"Alice! Don't..." his voice broke off as he slipped and hit his head on the steps.

"Alice" a voice whispered in her ear...

_Darkness_

"Alice..." Oz sat up. He pressed a hand to his forehead to check there was no blood, and looked around. Gil was still frozen in shock, staring at the space where Alice had previously been stood.

"No... No... Why didn't you do something?" Oz shouted, furious.

"My, my," a new voice echoed from the top of the stairs before Gil could respond, "It appears he acted even faster than I expected him too." Both golden and emerald eyes looked up into the singular crimson one.

"Gil," Break called out, "Why don't you go and tell Vincent we're going to set the plan in motion while I tell Oz what's going on?" Gil nodded, and ran back out the door.

"Set what plan in motion?" Oz asked, but Break turned away, indicating for Oz to follow, and walked into Sharon's study. Oz ran up the stairs after him. When he got to Sharon's study, Break was leaning against the desk, and Sharon was sat in the chair behind it, looking anxiously between Oz and Break. Oz sat down in front of the desk, and asked the question pressing most on his mind.

"How is Cheshire still alive, and where did he take Alice? I thought you'd killed Cheshire with the Mad Hatter..." he trailed off. Break laughed quietly.

"Have you forgotten what tends to happen when I use the Mad Hatter too carelessly?"

Oz was silent. He could remember too clearly at Reveille, Break being carried unconscious on Gil's back, unable to stop coughing up blood. Break resumed his explanation.

"I made a deal with Cheshire. I would let him live, if he let me talk to the Will of the Abyss. I realized that the Will of the Abyss was targeting Alice for some unknown reason, and I took advantage of that. I allowed Cheshire to take Alice back to his world, and soon we shall follow using Eques."

"We?" Oz asked.

"You will see in a minute," Break muttered absent-mindedly, pulling a sweet out of his pocket. Oz scowled.

"I thought Cheshire's world had been destroyed."

"It was," Break mumbled through his sweet, "but it seems the copy of Alice's memories was exactly that – a copy." He swallowed, and put a new sweet in his mouth. "Cheshire obtained a new core – the original of Alice's memories – and rebuilt his world."

"And Gil knew about this?"

"Of course"

"But he loves her!"

"He was a fool to get this involved. And it appears he's not the only one," Break's eye held Oz's for a brief second, long enough for Oz to realize that he had seen their kiss, before he continued.

"It appears that Cheshire has been watching Alice for a long time, even while she was in the Abyss, he was always watching."

"Sharon-chan," Oz turned away from Break, "Is there anything that can go wrong?" Sharon sighed, and looked down into her teacup.

"There is a possibility that you could all be pulled into the Abyss. I could pull you out again, using Eques and Raven if Gil is close enough, but there is a strong possibility that you could all be killed in the Abyss."

"I very much doubt that!" A new voice laughed from the doorway. Oz turned and froze.

"It's been a while, boy" Lottie giggled, running in to give him a kiss.

* * *

A/N: I literally sat in front of the computer without any planning and wrote. I kinda wanted to bring Cheshire back, but the Baskervilles were something I didn't plan for that popped up at the end in a moment of mad-sugar-rush inspiration. I should be able to get the next chapter uploaded soon.


	6. Cinnamon

A/N: If I can keep writing new chapters at this rate, I could be finished by the end of the month

* * *

Cinnamon. Lottie tasted very distinctly of cinnamon, Oz decided as the Baskerville finished her kiss and went to stand beside Vincent, who was looking at Gil with a very amused look in his eye. Oz couldn't help smiling at Gil's stunned face as well.

"Well, Gilbert, it appears your master is finally starting to grow up," Vincent said, sitting down and pulling Echo down to sit in his lap. Oz looked around the room. In the far corner, looking very uncomfortable, Gil was stood watching Vincent and Echo, who were sat in a chair by the fireplace. Echo was looking with fascination at Sharon's books, and Vincent was grinning at Lottie. All three Baskervilles were stood in the centre of the room, staring at Break, as if waiting for him to speak.

"Why are the Baskervilles here?" Oz asked, glaring at Lottie. Break smiled.

"We both share a common objective – to obtain the Will of the Abyss! But both sides have failed to do so, so I asked Vincent to try and form a truce. If both sides work together, we will be able to obtain the Will of the Abyss."

"But why did you let Alice get taken?" Oz shouted.

"Bait," Lottie shrugged behind him. Oz was stunned.

"But what about Alice? Gil! Don't you care if Alice gets hurt?"

"B-Rabbit," Fang said, "has always been a thorn in our side. It matters not to us if she dies."

"Break," Gil whispered from the corner, lighting a cigarette. All eyes turned to look at him.

"How can we guarantee Alice's safety?" he asked. Break, for once noticing the serious atmosphere surrounding him, sighed.

"The Will of the Abyss has always loved two things. The first is Jack. She would not hurt Jack. Since Oz is Jack, she will not hurt him either. The second is Alice. I think that she has been protecting her sister all this time, and she will not hurt her now." Silence followed. Oz looked around. Everyone was staring at Break, who was unwrapping another sweet, with silent awe.

"Sharon," Break said, "Are you ready?" Sharon nodded, her face determined. She closed her eyes, and whispered, "Eques,"

As the way to Cheshire's world was opened, Break turned to face the gathered team.

"Between all of us, we should be able to obtain the Will of the Abyss, and even if we are pulled into the Abyss, we still stand a very good chance. Gil, when Eques appears again, you will need to use Raven to help pull of all out of the Abyss." Gil nodded. "Baskervilles, as emissaries of the Abyss, you should have no trouble escaping, but may need to help others escape."

"We will do what we can, but make no promises," Fang said, "We are emissaries of the Abyss, not of Cheshire's world." And the other two nodded in agreement.

"Vincent, I trust you to keep Cheshire busy using Yamane,"

"I will do what I can," Vincent smiled, and both Break and Oz wondered about the child with one red eye who had run laughing through Sabrie and almost seen the destruction of the Abyss.

"Echo-chan –"

"-Isn't going." Vincent cut across Break, scowling, red eye staring into red eye. "It's too dangerous." Echo looked up at Vincent from the book she had just been reading with tears gathering in her grey eyes, and then looked down again, silent and unprotesting as ever.

The group prepared to leave, all gathering around the way to Cheshire's world.

"Come back safely, everyone," Sharon said, reaching out and squeezing both Oz and Break's hand before they all jumped.

Oz gasped as a sudden adrenaline rush filled him as they all travelled in what seemed to be a space between worlds. Looking to his side, he saw Gil watching him with concern.

"Oz..."

"Gil," he said, cutting his servant off, "I will protect her to the end. I am her contractor and her friend, and I will always be there for her no matter what," Golden eyes stared into emerald as the servant heard his master's meaning.

"How can you love someone who will drag you into the Abyss?"

"How can you love someone who will drag me into the Abyss?"

Lottie grabbed Fang and Doug's hands. She felt as if she were flying. Holding onto her brother's hands, she felt safe. They were emissaries of the Abyss. No chain would dare hurt those who served the Abyss. If she could get the boy alone, maybe she could talk to Jack again. Maybe she could understand why he had killed Glen.

As Vincent jumped, he felt arms wrap themselves around him. Looking down, he saw Echo holding on, her head pressed against his chest, as if she were listening to his heartbeat.

"Echo! I told you to stay behind!" He shouted, raising his hand to strike her. She looked up at him, her normally emotionless eyes filled with adoration.

"Vincent is my master, and I must follow him wherever he goes." Vincent's hand froze. He sighed, reached into Echo's pocket, and pulled out a green-feathered hair clip, and pinned it in place. Cradling her head to his chest, he looked ahead to see if they were nearing Cheshire's world yet. He still felt irritated by the tiny servant's sudden decision to come and place herself in danger, but underneath the irritation, he felt a tiny little bit of warmth.

Break closed his eye as they travelled to Cheshire's world. He was still dreading that potential return to the Abyss. But, if it meant that he could take revenge for his left eye, it would be worth it. His breath caught in his throat, and he knew that he would have to be very selective in using the Mad Hatter. He would possibly have only a couple of minutes before he began to cough up blood, and once he started, it would be worse than it had been in Reveille. He placed a hand protectively over his remaining eye. He had only recovered partial sight in it, which would be dangerous enough in Cheshire's world, but would get him killed in the Abyss. Opening his eye again, he looked at the indistinct grey forms of the people he was trusting to protect him – the people who, but one, believed he needed no protection.

Everyone was slightly disorientated as they landed in Cheshire's world. They were all stood at the foot of a wide green spiral staircase that seemed to go on forever, and they were surrounded by corridors branching off on all sides.

"Well, Oz," Break said, looking around him, trying to recall where everything led to, "You have the deepest connection to Alice. Which way do we go?"

"Cheshire won't let you go anywhere!" Cheshire shouted as he appeared at the top of the stairs.

* * *

A/N: I have a really big exam in two days, so I might not be able to upload another chapter until saturday, maybe even monday. Hope you're enjoying it.


	7. Trio of Scratches

A/N: Because I brought in a bucket-load of characters in the last chapter, I have to follow them all in this chapter, and because they're going to split up in Cheshire's world, it's going to be kinda herd to keep track of them all, so I apologise if this chapter gets a bit confusing.

* * *

Cheshire moved with such lightning fast speed that no one realized what had happened until too late. In a second, he had leapt to the bottom of the stairs and, exactly like last time, slashed Gil across the chest. Gil stumbled back and fell over the edge of the balcony, disappearing into the blackness.

"Gil!" Oz and Vincent shouted out, both running to the edge, trying to see where he had fallen.

"Echo-Chan!" Break shouted from behind them. Both turned to see Echo's right arm hanging limply at her side, a thick trio of bloody slashes running from shoulder to fingertips. As the dagger fell from her right hand, she ran towards Cheshire, her left hand clutching the dagger under her long sleeves. Cheshire dodged easily to the side, and held out his claws for Echo to run straight into them. Cheshire pulled his claws out from Echo's chest, and stepped away as she collapsed. Licking the blood off, he turned to Break.

"Yamane," Vincent whispered. Dreamily, a clock-work dormouse faded into view as Cheshire leapt towards Vincent. Suddenly, he dropped to the floor. Vincent ran towards Echo, and pressed his hands to her chest to stop the bleeding.

"Vincent-sama, keep Cheshire asleep using Yamane," Break called to him, "We should be able to get out of here soon and we can help Echo-Chan then. Baskervilles," he shouted to the group standing passively near one of the corridors, "Go find Gil. Ignore everything else you see, just look for Gil." The Baskervilles nodded, and Fang and Doug turned to walk down the corridor. Lottie winked at Oz.

"I'll see you later boy, and Jack." Laughing, she ran after her brothers.

"Oz-kun, you follow me, we're going after Alice." Break turned and began to walk up the stairs.

"Wait, what about Echo?" Oz called, looking at Vincent, who seemed about to fall apart.

"She will be safe soon enough. For now, we need to be more concerned about Alice" Break said, not turning around.

"Vincent-sama..." Echo whispered as she heard footsteps going up the stairs. For some reason, it was hard to breathe, and Vincent was pressing down on her chest, which felt wet and sticky. Her master turned to look into her eyes.

"Don't talk, Echo. Try and stay awake. It's okay; we'll get you fixed soon." As he said those words, his eyes filled up with tears that fell onto her cheeks as he leaned over and kissed her gently. Echo felt the corners of her lips pull up into a tiny smile as he pulled away.

"You look so beautiful when you smile," Vincent whispered. "I promise I will never, ever hit you again,"

"Yes, Vincent-sama," Echo replied. Vincent laughed, and pressed her chest a little more firmly, so that no more blood would escape.

"Lottie, Doug," Fang said quietly. They had been descending through Cheshire's world for almost half an hour, when they passed a garden that looked almost like the Bezarius garden a hundred years ago. Lying in the centre was Gil. Lottie rushed towards the fallen Nightray, knowing Vincent would kill all of them if anything had happened to his brother. He was breathing lightly, and his scratches seemed to have stopped bleeding, but his shirt was a dark red, and his face was almost white.

"Hey," she said, waiting for him to respond. "Hey!" she shouted again, and this time, he turned his head towards her voice, and struggled to open his eyes.

"_He's fine, let's go." She announced to her brothers, and started to walk back the way they had_ come from. Doug reached down, and pulled Gil to his feet. Fang and Doug walked either side of Gil, supporting him, while Lottie walked ahead, keeping an eye out for any danger.

"Oz..." Gil whispered, unable to raise his voice.

"...Is with Xerxes, looking for B-Rabbit-kun." Lottie finished for him.

"Xerxes, eh?" Fang echoed her, "I didn't know you were on first-name terms."

"Well, I like to keep my enemies close." Lottie turned, giving him her trademark manic grin. "Plus," she continued, turning to face the front again, "there may be a few things you don't know about,"

Fang and Doug rolled their eyes. They knew Lottie's sense of humour, and knew there had been nothing between her and Break, but Gil didn't know and couldn't help thinking _Charlotte Baskerville and Break? What the hell?_ as he struggled to continue placing one foot in front of the other. Finally, they reached the place where Vincent and Echo had stayed. Gil's eyes widened as he saw Echo's broken form lying on the ground. Vincent looked up, and smiled when he saw Gil, clearly torn between his loyal servant and the brother he was so loyal to. The two Baskervilles sat Gil on the bottom step just beside Echo.

"Are you all right, Gilbert?" Vincent asked, not moving his hands from Echo's chest.

"Yeah," Gil nodded. "What happened to Echo?"

"Cheshire," Vincent spat out, turning to look at the unconscious chain.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake, and spiderweb cracks ran through the floor and the walls.

"Impossible!" Gil said, and they all turned to look at him for an explanation. "This feels like B-Rabbit's power, but it hasn't been unsealed," Gil held up his left hand.

"Well, it looks like the real battle is beginning," Fang said to Lottie.

"Yes," she smiled back, "You might want to hold onto your girl, Nightray," she laughed at Vincent, "We're going to the Abyss."

"Break?" Oz called, trying to keep up, "How do you know where Alice is?"

"I'm following the direction Cheshire came from," Break replied absent-mindedly, indicating to a trio of scratches running along the walls.

"Break?"

"My, my, you do ask a lot of annoying questions,"

"You've been to the Abyss before, right?"

"Yes,"

"Well... the Abyss turns people to Chains, right? Doesn't that mean you can't spend much time there because you'll turn to a chain even faster?" Break laughed

"Well, well, Oz-kun. Despite appearances, you are very perceptive. Yes, that might be true, but the same is true for the rest of us. Save Echo, we have all been in the Abyss."

"Break?" Break paused, and turned to face Oz, frowning.

"Why do you need to find the Will of the Abyss?"

"Oz-kun..." Break closed his eye and sighed, "Do you remember after you first left Cheshire's world, and we had tea together? Right after Jack appeared using your body before Pandora Headquarters?"

Oz nodded.

"Do you remember I said that I would _respond _to your questions? Not answer, but respond? Sometimes, I need you to trust me even if I cannot tell you everything."

Oz nodded again, thoughtfully. _It's something to do with his contract with the Mad Hatter,_ he decided. Break stopped and turned to Oz with a finger over his grinning lips. He pointed to a door that was slightly ajar at the end of the corridor. Silently, they approached it, and when they were near enough, pressed their eyes against the crack to look inside.

The Will of the Abyss and Alice were locked in a seemingly unbreakable embrace, both looking at but not seeing the mirrors on the surrounding walls, their minds in a place that existed a hundred years ago.

"My, my," Break said, walking into the room, with a huge grin on his face, "Isn't this nice? But I'm afraid we have to go now, Alice-kun."

"Stupid clown!" Alice shouted, instantly stepping in front of her white-haired twin, who was staring at Break with wide, shocked eyes.

"Alice!" Oz shouted, following Break. Alice looked at him, and gasped.

"Oz!" she said, taking a step towards him.

"No!" the Will of the Abyss grabbed hold of her wrist, "I won't lose you again!"

"I'm sorry, but I may have to disagree with you there," Break replied, "You have no power here, this is not the Abyss. Have you forgotten? I control the Mad Hatter." Oz noticed that as Break said this, he did not summon the Mad Hatter.

"Well, then, maybe we can settle this on more even terms!" the Will of the Abyss shouted. Her eyes were not angry, as Oz expected, but were filled with childish desperation.

"Alice!" Alice shouted, just as the Way opened and the Will of the Abyss jumped into it, pulling her sister with her.

"Oz-kun!" Break grabbed hold of him.

"You're still blind, aren't you?"

"Yes, and I am relying on you to keep me alive." Break said as the Way pulled them in.

* * *

A/N: I promise a lot more AlicexGil action in the chapter after the next chapter, the next will follow Alice and the Will of the Abyss, hopefully I can get it uploaded soon. LottiexBreak for another fanfic? I'm sorry I keep borrowing a lot of imagery from the series, I'll try and be a bit more original from now on.


	8. Alice's Will

A/N: I've been putting this chapter off ever since I started this fanfic, hopefully it turned out all right.

* * *

"_See, it's just as I've said"_

"_Shut up. Don't talk to me"_

"_You understand now, right? In the end, no matter where you go, you will always be... Alone"_

"_Shut up... Will of the Abyss"_

"_Hey... What's wrong? Why are you Alice? Why are you Alice? After all, you are the Blood-stained Black Rabbit, right?"_

"_That girl is a Chain. Eventually, her existence will extinguish yours. Hey, even though you know nothing about her... Why do you want to be by her side? That brat who doesn't know anything about herself, not even why she was born. She doesn't deserve you, and yet she stole you away. That brat... It would have been better for her not to have been born!"_

"_Now I understand what the difference is. Up until now, the aura of my memories when it fills up my chest, it was... vast warmth. However, this is different. Here there is only fear... Endless fear."_

"_Hey, why do I need to find my memories?"_

"_Because I need to know..."_

"_To know what?"_

"_I need to know why I was born!"_

"_I see. Then, why did you forget such an important thing?"_

"Hey... where am I?"

"Cheshire's world," Alice could recall claws around her waist, and then darkness, filled with voices echoing from memories, and then a light... Opening her eyes, she saw the Will of the Abyss kneeling beside her, violet staring into violet, their faces so close they were almost touching. Alice tried to sit up, and felt a wave of dizziness rush through her head. The Will of the Abyss placed a hand on her chest.

"Don't move. You still haven't recovered from the journey here." Alice reluctantly laid back, but kept her eyes on white-haired double, who was staring at her intently. Alice couldn't help being reminded of a child. Dim memories of tea parties and giggling over Jack stirred. The Will of the Abyss _was_ a child, filled with wonder at everything the world had to offer, able to laugh at any given moment, yet prone to mood swings that almost, at one point, destroyed the Abyss.

"Why am I here?"

"Because if Oz and Gil are in a different world to you, your powers can't be unsealed. I wanted to talk without a fight," the Will of the Abyss shrugged, giving a small smile. _I remember that smile_, Alice thought, _she always smiled like that when we were most lonely. She always smiled like that when Jack was gone._

"You loved Jack, and that's why you tried to make Oz get rid of me, because he looked like Jack" Alice said. "Even when Gil broke my heart, you still had to have Jack. You wouldn't even let Jack comfort me."

"No, I wanted to spare you the shame of your tears. You still had Cheshire," the Will of the Abyss smiled.

"But I didn't have you!" Alice screamed. Ignoring the pounding in her head she stood up, pushing her sister away. "I was always alone. All I had was you, asking me why am I Alice! You were never there, because you never cared!"

"You're wrong..." the Will of the Abyss whispered, her fringe falling over her eyes, as she clenched her fists at her sides.

"I was always there, always watching. I watched as Vincent killed you, and I pulled your body into the Abyss to bring you back. I watched as you fought with the lower chains in the Abyss, crying out in loneliness. I watched when you were with Gil, I watched as you pulled out the clown's eye to give to Cheshire... I was always protecting you!" the Will of the Abyss burst into tears and threw her arms around Alice, who felt very close to tears herself.

"You were always watching me... and I didn't even know your real name..." Alice choked out, tears burning down her cheeks. The Will of the Abyss laughed through her sobs.

"The same as you... Alice," the Will of the Abyss stepped away, wiping tears from her eyes, and smiled her big childish smile. Alice couldn't help but smile back, but a small voice in the back of her mind whispered, _mood swings._

"We can't have the same name, it's too confusing." Alice said. The Will of the Abyss looked confused.

"What name can I have, then?" Alice thought for a second.

"How about Alyss, A-L-Y-S-S?" she spelt out. Alyss laughed in delight at her new name, and hugged Alice.

There was a sudden hiss from the corner, and both turned to look at Cheshire, who Alice hadn't even noticed.

"Cheshire?" Alyss asked.

"They're here," Cheshire said, looking to Alyss for instructions.

"Go." Alyss nodded, and Cheshire slipped silently out of the room.

"He won't hurt them will he?" Alice asked, panicked.

"No, he won't hurt anyone precious to those most precious to him. I promise you Gil will be fine."

Alice looked down.

"I'm not even sure if it's Gil I love anymore," she whispered, thinking on Oz's kiss, and those words he had said last time...

"_I'll destroy it for her... The things that make Alice sad and hurt her... All of it... So, smile... Hey, Alice, my precious Alice..."_

"_I'm watching properly, so... So it's fine for Alice to just be Alice!"_

"If that's the case," Alyss whispered, drawing her sister into her arms, "You need to find out which one you do love, baby sister,"

"I thought we were twins," Alice said.

"I was born first."

"Oh,"

"_It's just as you say... I don't know anything about Alice. But... I don't think I can just leave her, because she is a little like me. That's why I have to stay at Alice's side."_

"_Gil, I will protect her until the end"_

A/N: This chapter almost killed me, I could not think of how to write Alyss. I kinda promised myself when I started that I would keep calling the Will of the Abyss "Will of the Abyss" rather than "Alyss", but after a while it gets irritating constantly typing it, so I went with Alyss. I hope you liked the chapter, I should be able to upload the next soon.


	9. Ippen shinde miru

A/N: I finally found some free time, I only have one more exam, so I might be able to get the next chapter uploaded friday, if not tomorrow. enjoy!

* * *

"Do you ever miss Jack?" Alyss asked.

"I don't remember him very well, but all my memories of him are filled with love and warmth. Yes, I think I do miss him," Alice replied. Both their minds drifted off to their varying memories of Jack, their eyes looking over each other's shoulder, seeing another world from a hundred years ago.

"My, my," Break said, walking into the room, with a huge grin on his face, "Isn't this nice? But I'm afraid we have to go now, Alice-kun."

"Stupid clown!" Alice shouted, instantly stepping in front of her white-haired twin, who was staring at Break with wide, shocked eyes.

"Alice!" Oz shouted, following Break. Alice looked at him, and gasped.

"Oz!" she said, taking a step towards him.

"No!" Alyss grabbed hold of her wrist, "I won't lose you again!"

"I'm sorry, but I may have to disagree with you there," Break replied, "You have no power here, this is not the Abyss. Have you forgotten? I control the Mad Hatter." Oz noticed that as Break said this, he did not summon the Mad Hatter.

"Well, then, maybe we can settle this on more even terms!" Alyss shouted. Her eyes were not angry, as Oz expected, but were filled with childish desperation.

"Alyss!" Alice shouted, just as the Way opened and Alyss jumped into it, pulling her sister with her.

"Oz-kun!" Break grabbed hold of him.

"You're still blind, aren't you?"

"Yes, and I am relying on you to keep me alive." Break said as the Way pulled them in.

* * *

Gil looked around. Vincent had a semi-conscious Echo cradled in his arms. The Baskervilles were stood turned away from him, looking out into the darkness that engulfed them. Vincent was looking around with a slight nostalgic smile on his face.

"This is the Abyss?" Gil asked. Vincent nodded.

"Gil!" Oz's voice called from behind him. Gil turned to see Oz running towards their group, and Break walking behind him.

"Well, I see Alice is not with you, either," Break said, looking around. He could only see indistinct shadows, but there were no shadows of Alice's height.

"We need to split up, and find her," Oz said, looking at Gil. They all looked around them, as a strange sound, like footsteps, echoed around them.

"Chains," Fang said, drawing his sword.

"How will you protect yourself?" Gil scowled, grabbing hold of Oz's shoulders, "It's too dangerous to move Echo-chan in her condition, and Vincent will be hard-pressed to defend both her and himself. Break is quite clearly blind, and the Baskervilles have no reason to protect you."

"I will hide Eques in Oz-kun's shadow," Sharon's voice came echoing from Break's shadow, "Gil and Oz can search for Alice-san, while the others stay in a larger group, where the chains will be more likely to attack."

Oz and Gil nodded to each other, and ran into the blackness of the Abyss.

"Lottie-chan?" Break slipped up behind the Baskerville, and placed his arms around her neck, "What scale chain-attack are we looking at here?" he whispered in her ear, hoping she wouldn't slip out of his arms – he so desperately needed some guidance in the pitch black that his eyes could no longer penetrate. She seemed to sense this, and remained still.

"It would be greater than the attack on Reveille, and focussed singularly on us."

"However," Fang continued for her, "We will be safe as long as the Will of the Abyss is happy. If she is, she will not order the attack."

* * *

Gil and Oz paused. They had been running for some time now.

"Oz, protect yourself, no matter what," Gil said, looking fondly on his master. He took the glove off his left hand, and placed in on Oz's head.

"I'm not sure if it will work from this distance, but it's worth a try." He said, unsealing B-Rabbit's power.

"Thank you, Gil," Oz said. The pair stared into each other's eyes for a moment, then turned and began running in opposite directions, each hoping they were running towards the girl they loved.

* * *

Alice froze, and Alyss turned to look quizzically at her. Alice could feel her powers returning, even though if she and the others were in separate dimensions then her powers couldn't be unsealed.

"Oz and Gil are in the Abyss, too!" she realized.

"The Way should have only taken us, how could they have come through?" Alyss said, looking worried.

"Does it matter? We have to save them!" Alice cried.

"But ... they'll take you away..." Alyss whispered, "I don't want to lose you again." she wrapped her arms around her twin in a vice-like grip.

"You won't," Alice said, "But I need to save them. I need to know which one I love." Quickly, she pulled away, kissed her twin on the cheek, and ran into the darkness.

"...Which one you love..." Alyss echoed, touching her fingers to the spot where Alice had kissed her, her fringe falling over her eyes and her other hand clenching into a fist by her side, "...why not love me?"

* * *

"Alice!" Gil called, as he saw his precious chain running towards him in the darkness.

"Gil!" Alice called back, her face lighting up with a smile. Joyfully, she launched herself into his arms, and they stood in the darkness, in an embrace that almost made them forget where they really were. Both were simply content to stand in each other's arms for eternity.

"I now know why I hated you when you first came out of the Abyss. Not because you were killing my master, but because you were killing me. You were breaking my heart even though I didn't know why. I love you, Alice. Do you still love me?"

Alice hesitated, but was spared from having to answer by a sudden rumbling noise that surrounded them, and cracks began to run through the blackness.

"This dimension is disintegrating," Gil muttered under his breath, trying to remember where he had heard that before, "We need to get out of here. Use your connection with him to call Oz, tell him I have you, and that he needs to get back to the others, now." He picked Alice up in his arms and, cradling her to his chest, began to run.

_Oz... OZ!_

_Alice?_

_I'm safe, I'm with Gil. You need to get back to the others, Gil said that... 'this dimension is disintegrating'_

_I'm coming._ Oz turned and immediately began running back the way he had come. He was out of breath, and his chest hurt so much that he didn't register the pain that told him the hand on the seal was going to move soon.

_Alice?_ Oz called out in his mind, hoping she could hear him.

_Yes?_ She responded, worried that he was hurt.

_I love you._ Oz felt Alice pull away from his mind, and felt her confusion and sadness.

_Why are you sad?_ He thought, as he neared the others.

* * *

"This dimension is disintegrating," Break muttered under his breath, so only Lottie could hear him, "just like last time,"

"What's going on?" Lottie whispered.

"The Will of the Abyss is tearing this dimension apart. We have to get out of here soon, otherwise we will be killed with it,"

"But we need both the boy and Nightray."

"Exactly. And I fear that we are running out of time," Break smiled, and nodded towards the space in front of them, where a chain had appeared, "And he's not alone."

"Lottie!" Doug called, "We're surrounded! Call Leon, and we'll fight for as long as possible!"

"Vincent-sama...?" Echo whispered, as Vincent stood up, with her securely cradled against his chest.

"Stay quiet, and I'll protect you," Vincent whispered back. Kissing her softly, he went to stand by Break.

"Well, Mad Hatter, let us see who can make it out alive this time."

Break nodded in response, and drew out his sword as Leon and Yamane appeared beside their contractors.

"Tell me, though, why is Oz Bezarius so important?" Vincent said. In his arms, Echo laughed. Sliding out of his arms, she stood away from the group. SHe was unbalanced on her feet, and almost collapsed with each step she took. The wounds on her chest began to bleed again, and blood streamed down her dress, yet she still continued laughing until she began coughing up blood. When she had stopped coughing, she laughed again.

"Didn't you know, Vincent-sama?" she shouted, her voice turning hard. She laughed again, as if she had gone insane, "That boy... He is the key to obtaining the Will of the Abyss!" she announced triumphantly.

"Zwei!" Vincent shouted. Duldum appeared behind his servant, and the group felt her puppet strings tie around all of them.

"Hey, Vincent-sama," Zwei giggled, placing her hands on the Nightray's cheeks, forcing him to look into her eyes, "Ippen... Shinde miru?

* * *

A/N: "Ippen shinde miru?" means _want to try dying this once?_ I got it from Jigoku Shoujo, another very good anime. It almost killed me to write this chapter, as I have to keep on top of everything that's going on with all the individual groups, and try to make it make sense. I should be able to upload soon. please review and tell me how I can improve for the rest of this fanfic and any others I write.


	10. When Cicadas Cry

A/N: I hate sixth form! We've just started the year thirteen stuff in preparation for next year, and it is draining all my energy. I apologise for the late upload, I have been caught in between revision for exams, year thirteen introduction stuff and piano (I have an exam in two days (wednesday)). I also had a massive case of writers block, which would not go away! Anyway, enjoy.

* * *

"Hey, Vincent-sama... Ippen... Shinde miru?" Zwei laughed hysterically.

"Echo-chan!" Oz's voice rang out. The tiny servant turned to see Oz running straight towards her.

"Oz!" Alice's voice called out from behind Oz. Oz leapt at Zwei/Echo, hoping he could stop her. Just as he put his arms around her, he felt a fiery pain grip his chest. The hand on his seal was beginning to move! Oz clutched onto Zwei even tighter as B-Rabbit's power and pain coursed through him, and the resulting wavelengths of B-Rabbit's power made everyone freeze, unable to think. Only Alice stood strong, unaffected by her own power. Looking around, she saw the closest chains disappear, killed by her power, while the others retreated, waiting for an order to attack, rather than die right now. As the hand on the seal finished moving, the chain walked over to her manservant, who was helping a scared and confused Echo to sit up.

"Vincent-sama?" Echo barely whispered. Vincent took her from Oz's arms, and turned to Gil.

"Summon Raven. With Miss Reinsworth's Eques, we can leave before anyone else gets hurt."

Oz felt Alice press up against his chest, clearly scared by something he could not sense. And if Alice was scared, they needed to leave now. Sharon's voice echoed out of Break's shadow.

"I cannot get the Way open! Something's blocking Eques's power!"

"I can't release Raven, either," Gil scowled, looking around into the blackness.

"Then the Will of the Abyss does not want you to leave," Fang said, and everyone jumped, having forgotten the Baskervilles were there. "We shall leave, as her quarrel is not with us." Fang and Doug turned and vanished into the darkness. Lottie paused for a moment.

"Onee-chan expects you to look after Zwei, Nightray. We'll meet again soon, boy," she winked at Oz, and followed her brothers.

"What does that mean, 'her quarrel is not with us,'?" Sharon's voice asked.

"Alyss is coming," Alice muttered into Oz's chest. Instantly, Gil drew his gun, Break pulled out his sword, and Alice summoned her scythe, saying viciously "Back off. Let me deal with my sister," In front of her, she could sense the chains that had gathered in an enormous circle, too far away to see in the dark, shuffle aside, and then regroup back into place.

Like an ethereally beautiful ghost, Alyss walked out of the darkness. Her fringe covered her eyes, and in her right hand she held a large hooked cleaver.

* * *

A/N: When I say "Large Hooked Cleaver" I mean like Rena's from Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni. Also, when I say "laughed hysterically" or anything similar, also think Higurashi. I have borrowed heavily from Higurashi in this chapter. I am half way through the second series and addicted. When I say addicted I mean that if I could, I would inject liquid Higurashi and live in some constant never-ending june in Showa 58 (1983). NIPPA!

* * *

She paused just on the edge of the darkness, and called out to the assembled chains, "Kill them."

What followed could only be described as a massacre. Gil pushed Oz out of harm's way and pulled out his gun, and fired and fired again and again until his ears rang with constant gunshots. Break pulled out his sword, unwilling to summon the Mad Hatter in case he was needed later, and slashed at every chain his blurred vision allowed him to see. Vincent laid the unconscious Echo on the floor, retrieved the knives she kept up her sleeves and, summoning Yamane, made every chain near him fall asleep, and killed them before they could touch his beloved servant. Alice became a red blur that left a trail of dissolving chains in its path, anxiously trying to reach her twin, who was laughing hysterically at the carnage. _Mood swings_, the voice in her head reminded her. Oz shrank away, unable to defend himself. Desperately, he groped his hand on the floor around him, hoping to find some form of weapon. Finally, his hand brushed against something hard. He grabbed it and, holding it up in front of him, found he was holding a baseball bat.

"Damn it, Break!" Gil shouted, desperately trying to reload, "Summon the Mad Hatter before we all get killed!" Break scowled. Finally, he lowered his sword. Oz and Gil instinctively threw themselves over Alice as the Mad Hatter opened his eye and every other chain disappeared in a flash of blinding white light. When the light vanished, Break began to cough up blood so forcefully he dropped to his knees before anyone had recovered from the light. Gil instantly ran to help him, and Oz followed closely behind, still holding onto the baseball bat. Alice took a step forwards, then turned around, holding up her scythe to stop Alyss's cleaver. Violet glared into violet, and they both began attacking each other, neither willing to stop and give the other the upper hand.

"Why do you have to choose them?" Alyss shouted, swinging down, aiming for Alice's chest. "Why do you have to leave me, your own twin, alone?"

"Because this way, I can get out of the Abyss!" Alice shouted back, deflecting her sister's blow and swinging her scythe at her throat. "Because I can see the sun. Because I can be loved!" Alyss froze briefly, and then whispered, "But I do love you." which made Alice freeze.

"I've always loved you. I've always watched over you. If anything, you should be killing them. The one who left you, and used you when your memory returned. The one who was never brave enough to act, only failing as a manservant... They're the ones you should kill... Duldum." Alyss whispered, and Echo's frail body jerked in Vincent's arms. Alice felt the puppet strings tighten around her wrists, but she didn't mind... maybe her sister was right. She allowed her scythe to disappear, and took the cleaver from Alyss instead.

"Gil," Oz whispered as Alice turned towards them, "Look after Break. Don't get involved until I tell you to. Sharon-chan?" he said, not giving Gil a chance to argue, "Raven and Eques won't be able to get the Way open enough for all of us to leave, will they? B-Rabbit's power is too great."

"That's right. Only a contract could really be powerful enough to open the Way sufficiently," Sharon replied. Oz leaned over and whispered in Gil's ear.

"Oz!" Gil shouted, grabbing hold of his master's shoulder.

"It'll be fine, Gil." Oz said, smiling his dazzling smile. He turned, and ran towards Alice, clutching the baseball bat in his hands. Alice, who had been slowly walking towards them, began running as well, raising her cleaver. She swung down, but Oz swung the bat up, knocking her blow away, and began swinging at Alice, trying to knock her without her cutting him. Alice responded with equal ferocity, now caring when Duldum's strings fell away. All she wanted was revenge on the one who wasn't brave enough to tell her he loved her. Similarly, Oz wanted revenge on Alice for breaking his heart and turning to Gil when he had been about to tell her his feelings. Sparks flew from their weapons, and the anger glowed from their eyes, emerald eternally locked with violet. Fire and ice, night and day, trapped in an endless war.

"Hey, Oz! What will you give me if I win?" Alice shouted, laughing as the blade caught Oz's cheek, leaving a thin line of blood.

"If I win, you'll become my personal maid, and serve me to my heart's content every day. And remember, you'll have to introduce me as 'Honoured Master Oz Bezarius' in front of everyone!" Oz shouted back, slamming the bat into her hip.

"Not unless I get to wear a cute outfit." She cut on of the buttons from the front of his waistcoat.

"Leave that to me. Under the perfect supervision of Sharon-chan, I'll have several outfits ready for you!"

"Nice, nice! I have no intention of losing, but that sounds like so much fun!"

"And next comes your victory prize, Alice."

"I..." Alice hesitated, barely moving herself back in time to avoid a blow to the head, "would like the same prize that you'll get, Oz."

"You want me to be a maid?" Oz paused. Both took a few steps back, trying to catch their breath.

"No, but the rest is the same. I want you to greet me with 'good morning' and say 'good night' in the evening. I'd like you to fill me with lots of kindness... with lots of joy... With these stakes, if I win or if you win... We'll always be together, Oz." Alice smiled, rubbing her hip where Oz had hit her. Oz smiled back, and rubbed the blood off his cheek.

"Yes, we will. After all... we're in a contract, aren't we?" The smiles disappeared from their faces, as they both ran towards each other, both desperate to win. Both swung at each other. The bat slipped from Oz's hands, and rolled away into the darkness. Both fell down as Alice crashed into Oz, who landed on his back with Alice sitting on his chest, cleaver raised high over her head.

"Damn. You're good." Oz tried to resist the urge to smile at the childish surprise in his chain's eyes.

"Now, the match is over, right?" she asked, uncertainly.

"No, it's not. Not until you swing that down, it isn't over."

"No... No... I don't want to!" Alice could feel tears forming in her eyes, spilling over her cheeks, "Why did it end up like this? Where did everything get so messed up? Why am I doing something this horrible?" she dropped the cleaver on the ground by her side, raising her hands to rub away the tears.

"Alice..." Oz stared, feeling Alice's tears fall down onto his cheeks.

"Why did I destroy these happy days... with my own hands?" Alice looked at her hands, which were covered in tears, dirt, and small streaks of blood.

"You're... really amazing... Alice! You didn't destroy anything! You made me realize my own mistake! I should have told you how precious you are to me. I promise you, Alice, I will always be there. If something awful happens, or if we start doubting each other, or if something painful happens, I'll be there so you can talk to me. You have to talk to your friends. Gil! Break! Sharon! Me! We all love you, Alice, and we will always protect you." Oz sat up, pulling Alice close into his chest, and she burst into tears. Standing up, he pulled Alice to her feet with him, and he began walking towards Alyss, who was staring at him with tear-filled eyes just like Alice's. For some reason that he could not explain, like when he had felt he had to protect Alice, and stay with her, he felt he needed to protect her other half. Pulling her into his arms, he held both sobbing girls for a few minutes, and left them to cry in each other's arms. Slowly, he walked back towards Gil, Break, Vincent and Echo. Stopping beside Alice/Alyss's cleaver, he stopped, and gazed directly into his servant's golden eyes.

"Gil." He said in his most commanding voice. Gil scowled, pulled out his gun, aimed and pulled the trigger. The bullet passed through Oz's chest, through the centre of the seal, breaking his contract with Alice.

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A/N: I should be able to get the next chapter uploaded soon (I know I say that every time, sorry). I can actually see the end in sight! Please review and tell me what you think!


	11. Hospital Bed

A/N: I know I say this every time and you're probably sick of hearing it by now, but I am sorry for the late upload. I will _try_ to get the next chapter uploaded soon, but as you probably know by now, I cannot make any guarantees. Thank you for sticking with this for so long, I truly appreciate it. Thank you for all your reviews, they have been really encouraging. Enjoy this latest installment.

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"Oz!" Alice screamed, collapsing as her powers rushed back into her and were sealed tight. Alyss held her up, shocked by the sudden stream of blood running down Oz's back where the bullet had exited. She felt the Way begin to open as Gil and Sharon summoned their chains, and knew that Alice could sense it, too, could sense that she was about to be left in the Abyss.

Oz pressed his hand to his bleeding chest, and turned to face the twins, a huge smile on his face.

"Alice!" he shouted, triumphantly, "Make a contract with me!" he held out his hand towards his precious chain, and was knocked over as two small bodies crashed into him, and two sets of lips pressed up against his, forcing their blood into his mouth, forming a contract with him. His eyes widened and then closed, and he stopped thinking, unable to compete with the power rushing into him.

"Thank you, Oz, for once again becoming my hands and feet." Alice whispered as she disappeared with her win, flowing with her power into his heart.

Sharon paced up and down her study, anxiously waiting for them to come through from The Abyss. By staying in the human world and using her chain to pull them back through, she provided and anchor, so they would appear back in the present, not the future as Oz had originally done. She held her hand up to shield her eyes as a blinding white light flooded the room. Lowering her hand, her eyes widened at the amount of blood before her. Echo's dress was red, with small blue spots showing through occasionally. Vincent's shirt was also dyed red, which wasn't surprising as he had her clutched so tightly to his chest. Gil's shirt had a long trio of scratches running down the front, which were coated in thick red blood. Break's hands were red where he had been coughing into them. Oz had a small gash on his cheek, but his on chest where the seal should be was a ragged circle, with blood running down his shirt. Alice did not seem to be among the group.

"Oz," Gil said, asking an unspoken question to his master. Oz smiled and nodded. Gil breathed a sigh of relief as Liam and about twenty other members of Pandora burst in. Quietly and efficiently, the group took Oz, Echo and Break away to treat them, followed anxiously by Vincent, Gil and Sharon.

Five long agonizing hours later, spent watching the clock go slowly through each second, Liam came out of the room where the wounded three were resting.

"Xerxes' condition is critical, and he has not yet regained consciousness. We hold very little hope that he will even make it through the night." He looked sadly at the floor as Sharon's eyes flooded with tears.

"Echo-chan is stable. Her injuries were serious, but we have been able to close the wounds, and she will be able to get up from her rest in about three days or so." He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a small see-through bag filled with broken pieces of glass and black blood. "It's a blood sealing mirror. Apparently whatever contract Echo-chan held has been broken, which placed a lot of additional strain on her body." Putting the bag back into his pocket, he stated simply, "Oz-kun has recovered well." He turned to go, and asked "Did we obtain the Will of the Abyss?"

"No." Gil said sharply, opening the door and storming in.

Oz was sat up in bed, grinning as Gil ran over to him.

"Gil!"

_Say 'hi' for me!_ Alice's voice echoed in his head.

_Me, too!_ Alyss's voice echoed back just as cheerily.

"Are you all right, Oz?"

"SHUT UP!" Oz shouted, covering his ears, "Not you," he smiled sheepishly at Gil.

"Vincent-sama?" Echo tried to lift her hand as Vincent came to sit beside her bed. Vincent took it, and kissed her gently.

"Shh, Echo. I'll be right here." He smiled as she drifted back into unconsciousness, never letting go of her hand.

Sharon said nothing as she walked towards Break's bed. His breathing seemed to be nonexistent, and his face was the same ash-white as his hair. Carefully, she took his hand and squeezed gently. He didn't respond as all. Tears burned down her cheeks as she squeezed his hand even harder, but he didn't wake up.

_What the hell do you want to say 'hi' to Gil for when you love Oz now?_

_What? Am I not allowed to be friendly? Even if he is my ex!_

_What? Do you want to sleep with him again? You're fourteen! He's twenty-four! Technically, you are both over a hundred years old, which is even more disgusting!_

_Screw you, bitch!_

_I'd say the same, but Seaweed Head over there has already screwed you!_

_Well at least I had a real boyfriend instead of some emo chain!_

_Well, Cheshire did a better job of protecting me than Gil did protecting you!_

_When?_

_Why the hell do you think this started? Because your ex is scared of cats! Who the hell is scared of cats?_

_Well Vincent already killed Cheshire once. Maybe if I ask nicely, he'll do it again!_

_You wouldn't dare!_

_Wouldn't I?_

_No, because Cheshire knows the REAL truth of a hundred years ago! He knows who REALLY killed you! And it wasn't Vincent!_

_..._

_What do you have to say to that?_

_Go back to the Abyss and play with your dolls, freak!_

"Will the pair of you-"

_SHUT UP!_ Two voices screamed back at Oz, who sighed and turned to Gil, trying to block them out.

"Can you make them come out, like Break did after I first got back?"

"No. Due to there being two chains of such immense power, you have to wait at least two days to for your body to stabilise so it will be able to cope with the absence of the chains."

"Two days?"

_What are you whining about? You're not trapped with this bleached freak._

"I'm trapped with both of you, now shut UP!" Oz shouted. Gil couldn't repress a smile.

"What happens now?" Oz asked.

"Now that we've obtained the Will of the Abyss, we have to keep it a secret." Gil said seriously, "So we need to silence the Baskervilles in order to do that."

"Does this mean..."

"Yes, there's going to be a lot more danger from this point onwards."

* * *

A/N: The original storyline I conceived has ended here, but I think I actually might go on a bit further, I'm seeing a few other ways this could go, plus I'm enjoying the double contract between Alice, Alyss and Oz. I think that I might end the official AlicexGil pairing here (even though it truly breaks my heart), although there may be a few casual pairings with them later on. Thank you again, everyone, for all your support :)


	12. Kiss

A/N: I apologise as it's only a short one. I don't have much time to write as mum would freak out if she found out I was writing fan fiction, so I can only write when everyone's gone out. Enjoy.

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Gil couldn't help smiling. It had been two days since they had returned from the Abyss. Sharon was still feeling sensitive since Break was still in his coma, so to keep everyone out the way, Gil had sealed Alice and Alyss into Oz's body for a little while longer. Oz was now holding one of the _Twilight_ books aloud, but he had paused to let them finish whatever argument they were having now.

"Does it really matter if he ends up with Edward or Jacob?" he shouted, and flinched at what was probably a doubly loud "Yes!"

"I think she should have stuck with Mike, personally," he muttered under his breath, then clutched at his head, trying to block out a stream of abuse Gil was glad he could not hear. Suddenly, Oz relaxed, and looked past Gil towards the door, a shocked and slightly guilty look in his eyes, which looked slightly violet at the centre. Turning around in his chair, Gil saw Sharon standing in the doorway. She looked pale, there were huge black circles under her red eyes, and she was wearing a simple pair of trousers and an over-sized red jumper instead of her usual elegant dresses.

"Considering all three wanted to be with her for their own gratification rather because they loved her, she would be better off single. Such a fickle bitch doesn't deserve a boyfriend anyway." Her voice was almost nonexistent. Silently, she walked away.

"Alyss says she knows what's wrong, and she can help if we let her out." Oz said when Sharon had walked a safe distance out of earshot. "I know we want to give Sharon space, but if we can help, I think that would be better."

"And if she can't help?" Gil frowned. "I don't trust someone who would try and kill her own twin, and the one she loves."

"The one she loves?"

"Jack. You have Jack's soul inside of you."

"I trust her." Oz said, standing up, giving Gil a look that had once terrified him, ten years ago. Gil couldn't help but smile again at that look. Sighing, he undid the seal keeping the two chains inside Oz's body, but kept their powers sealed. As the two chains appeared on either side of Oz, he stood to leave, only offering Alice a small, sad smile.

Alice watched as Gil walked out the library, a small ache in her heart. In the Abyss, it was so hard to separate her feelings from Alyss's, when they were so close. She felt so uncertain of who she loved, she only knew her twin loved Oz.

Alyss waited for Sharon to leave Break's room. In this world, the power of the Abyss was dangerous, and she didn't want to risk hurting anyone. Finally, Sharon left to have a quick shower. Alyss would only have about five minutes or so before she returned. Silently, she slipped into Break's room and hurried over to the bed. She knew exactly what was wrong. Break, a name she thought suited him much better than Kevin, was still being pulled into the Abyss by his first contract. All his efforts to obtain her had been so that he could cancel his first contract. Until then, he had to put all his energy into staying in this world. All those sugary sweets had only provided a little energy, but they had given him enough. Until he had come to the Abyss. There, it's pull had been too strong, and it had nearly killed him to get out of the Abyss. It was killing him to stay in this world. Gently, she kissed his lips and, summoning the powers of the Abyss, pulled apart his first contract. The completed seal on his chest glowed, and then faded away, leaving only a slight red mark that would vanish by morning.

She pulled away from the kiss, and turned to find a shocked Sharon in the doorway.

"You..."

"Sharon-chan..."

"What the hell?" Sharon screamed.

Gil, Oz and Alice heard the scream, Gil and Oz from the library and Alice from the kitchen, and ran towards it, worried by the endless banging that could only be made by paper repeatedly hitting flesh. Reaching Break's room together, Gil grabbed Sharon around the waist and pulled her away from Alyss, who was now being supported by Alice and Gil.

"Bloody hell, how can paper hurt so much?" Alyss gasped. Everyone froze at the sound of laughter.

"My, my, ojou-sama, you still have quite a temper, don't you?" Break grinned. He sat up, only to be knocked back down again by Sharon, who suffocated him in a huge hug. Break's one eye widened in shock, then he smiled and put his arms around his dearest friend, who was sobbing clutching onto him as if she would never let go.

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A/N: I apologize again for the shortness of this chapter, and for how rushed it was. I only have limited time, but I promise I will have the next one up soon, hopefully with a lot more action and not quite as rushed.


	13. Dresses

A/N: Next chapter. I'm still not quite sure how to get to where I'm going with this, it might take another chapter or two before I can get to the next story line, so this is more of a filler chapter than anything else. I've also decided to do a Pandora Hearts/Higurashi cross-over if anyone's interested. I'll be juggling that alongside this one as soon as I get it written. Anyway, enjoy!

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Sharon and Alyss stared at Alice as she rapidly came into view from behind the disappearing pile of meat on her plate. Alice paused, and glared at her sister.

"What are you staring at, panda?" she asked through a mouthful of bacon, sausage and beef. Alyss scowled in response. It had been a week since she had brought Break out of his coma, and she still had black eyes from the beating Sharon had given her. Unfortunately, most of her other bruises showed when she wore her normal dress, so she had been wearing one of Sharon's slightly less pink ones to keep her covered. Fortunately, Sharon had declared a shopping trip today to finally make peace between the three girls.

"Right! Let's go!" She shouted delightedly.

"One moment," Alice muttered, trying to finish the rest of the meat.

"I said _'let's go'_!" Sharon said in a dangerously quiet voice, pulling a paper fan out from under the table. Alice swallowed quickly and, choking and being helped along by Alyss, followed Sharon out of the door.

"Does anyone here understand girls?" Oz asked the remaining people sat around the table, Break, Gil, Vincent with Echo asleep on his lap, Liam and Oscar. Everyone shook their heads, and Oz shrugged and continued with his breakfast.

"Well, I trust everyone understands the current situation, then." Break said, looking at the last cake on his plate.

"Situation?" Liam asked, "You mean, keeping the fact that we have obtained the Will of the Abyss a secret from the rest of Pandora?"

"No. We need to prevent the Baskervilles from obtaining Alyss-san from us. This is made much more difficult by the fact that, to obtain her, they can also take Alice-san and Oz-kun and take advantage of the twins bond or Oz's contract to bring her to them."

"Can we not trust her to look after herself? If her powers are unsealed, then she could be almost invincible." Vincent smiled.

"The power of B-Rabbit alone almost destroyed Oz's body. Alyss's power is exactly the same as B-Rabbit's, so Oz's body would be destroyed twice as fast." Gil responded, kindly to his brother, not scowling as he normally would do.

"Use a blood sealing mirror like we do. Could we not break the illegal contract and reform it as a legal contract like Oz-kun did in the Abyss?" Liam asked. "It would take the pressure off Oz-kun's body, and allow B-Rabbit and the Will of the Abyss freedom to defend themselves whenever they need to."

"You mean shoot him again?" Gil scowled.

"But can't blood sealing mirrors be broken? Echo-chan's was, and it almost killed her, on top of the damage Cheshire did." Oz said, looking around the table anxiously.

"We could take advantage of Cheshire's loyalty towards Alice-san and Alyss-san." Break said thoughtfully, more to himself than anyone else.

"No!" Vincent and Gil shouted, waking up Echo.

"Echo could return to the Baskervilles pretending to be Zwei and warn Vincent-sama when they plan to attack," She said dreamily, which prompted even more protests.

"Echo, I refuse to allow you to endanger yourself like that," Vincent said, instinctively holding her a little tighter.

"What happened to Zwei?" Oz asked.

"It seems that personality was destroyed along with the contract with Duldum." Break said, putting the empty plate aside. "Liam-san, why don't you report back to Pandora that we are not planning to do anything with the current situation concerning the Baskervilles at the moment?"

Liam nodded, pushed his glasses into place and left, wishing everyone a good day.

"Oscar-sama, why not escort him?" Break said.

"Can I not spend time with my favourite nephew?" Oscar said in a jolly voice, pulling Oz into a huge bear hug.

"Go," Break said, giving Oscar a look that sent him running after Liam. "So annoying." Break muttered under his breath to Emily.

"Break?" Oz said, curious to know what Break was going to talk about next.

"Do either of you three have any memories of the events from a hundred years ago?" Break asked the Nightrays sat across from him.

"All memories of the Baskervilles belong to Zwei, who never told Echo anything." Echo replied dreamily, shaking her head.

"No," said Gil, and Vincent simultaneously replied "None,". Break looked suspiciously at Vincent for a moment before continuing.

"We need to re-obtain Alice's memories from Cheshire. The copy that was destroyed was an edited version. The original is safe, and has recreated Cheshire's world. We either need Cheshire with those memories, or just the memories. Either way, those memories will help us destroy the Baskervilles." He stood up and smiled.

"Good day to you all!" he said cheerily, and stepped into the cupboard where the plates were kept, closing the door behind him.

"What the hell?" Gil muttered, jumping up and running to open to door of a now empty cupboard.

"What the hell was all that about?" he asked angrily.

"Brother? Do you really have no memories of the Tragedy of Sabrie?" Vincent asked, his usual smile replaced by a Gil-like scowl.

"No, why?" Gil replied.

"No reason. Echo, you wait here for the girls to get back. I need to find Xerxes." Vincent said, his smile instantly returning.

Hours later, Oz was sat on his bed, thinking about what Break had said about Cheshire's original world being an edited version of Alice's memories when, speak of the devil, she burst in with a bag in each hand filled with dresses.

"Oz! Look at how many I've got! Do you want me to show you my favourite? It's so pretty, it's black with this white lace and this corset-type ribbon going up the back! Let me try it on, and I'll show you!" her face was lit up like a young childs. Before Oz could react, she took off ehr coat and began unbuttoning her shirt. She paused, and looked at Oz.

"You need to look away. Sharon says people who aren't lovers aren't allowed to see each other undressed."

"But... we are... kind of."

Alice's eyes widened.

"What?"

"Remember? That time when we all got drunk and you tried to take your top off, and I stopped you, and you poked me in the eyes, and then I carried you back to your room, and you kept pulling my shirt off, and I tried to stop you but you wouldn't let me say no..." Oz had been talking very fast, but now his voice trailed off.

"You mean my first time... wasn't with Gil?" Alice whispered in a very dangerously quiet voice.

"Y-Yes..." Oz said, shrinking under the blankets.

Sharon and Alyss were helping Echo try on a brand new yellow-and-white checked dress that looked absolutely adorable on her, while Break, Vincent and Gil waited outside to see what she looked like in a colour other than blue, when they all heard a series of hard, loud thuds and Oz screaming in pain from his bedroom. The three girls looked out of the door, just as a bruised and bloody Oz ran out of his room, screaming "I thought you knew!" as Alice ran after him, holding a bloody baseball bat in her hand, that they recognized from the Abyss.

Gil reached out, and grabbed Alice around the wrists, holding her up high so she couldn't kill anyone. She struggled briefly, then relaxed, the baseball bat falling out of her hands.

"Well, it appears we have no need to worry about the Baskervilles after all." Break laughed.

"Baskervilles?" Sharon asked.

"Yes, Baskervilles, ojou-sama. Why don't you sit down, and I'll explain everything to you." Break said, his smile disappearing ever so slightly.

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A/N: In every chapter, I've said "I'll upload soon" and I never do, so I'm not going to promise to upload soon, as it appears to be some kind of jinx. I promise to upload, but I don't know when. Thank you for putting up with my inconsistency, and thank you for your reviews, they've been really helpful, and really encouraging. It's nice to know that someone reads this :D


	14. Do you like?

A/N: I'm tired, and not really in the mood for writing, but I want to get this chapter up soon, so I'm sorry if it's a bit short or rushed. We'll see how it goes.

* * *

"Why do the Baskervilles need Alice-san's original memories?" Sharon asked. Break had explained to everyone about how the Baskervilles would try to obtain Alyss from them, and would use Alice's memories somehow. Everyone else had left shortly after, Gil returning to the Nightray household with Vincent, and taking Oz with him for his own protection. Alyss and Alice had gone off to have a talk about... something.

"There is something in those memories that Alyss doesn't want Alice to see, otherwise she would not have edited them. It is logical that she would try to take those memories back before Alice sees them, but she would have to enter Cheshire's world to do that. It is easier to pull her into the Abyss from Cheshire's world than this world, which they will have to do, since the Baskervilles cannot enter Cheshire's world without either Alyss, Cheshire, Eques or Raven taking them there."

"And... what is in those memories?" Sharon asked, curious.

"The real truth about the tragedy of Sabrie."

* * *

"So... who do you really love?"

"I don't know. I kinda loved Oz, but when I remembered... a hundred years ago, I... Gil... damn it, I don't know!" Alice screamed, slamming her fist into the pillow. She and Alyss were laid on the bed, face to face. In the moonlight streaming in through the window, Alyss glowed like the moon itself, while Alice's hair glittered like the night sky, black but filled with stars. Alice reached up to brush away her tears, but Alyss brushed them away first, fingers lingering on her twins cheek. One hundred years – no, over one hundred years, she had waited to touch her twin. To hug her, to be able to tell her face to face that she loved her. To be able to be with her, just as twins, instead of enemies, or counterparts from different worlds.

"How about you?" Alice whispered, enjoying the love she could feel radiating from Alyss, wondering how she could let her know she loved her just as much.

"Jack was perfect, but when he died... When I thought he'd died... My heart... it just shattered, and then... Oz... He was just like him... and then it turned out Jack's soul was inside him... Yeah. Vincent isn't that bad either." She smiled, trying to lighten the mood.

"You'd go out with your sister's murderer?"

"What can I say?"

"Wait, you said Vincent didn't kill me." Alice sat up, staring at her twin with intense curiosity.

"Sometimes, I say things that aren't true. I just wanted you to shut up." Alyss replied. Alice noticed that Alyss didn't quite make eye contact when she said this.

* * *

Oz sat down on the bed, looking around. He was going to be sharing a room with Gil while he stayed. It was only going to be over night, while Alice calmed down, but he already felt homesick.

"Are you okay, Oz?" Gil asked, sitting down on the bed beside him. Oz nodded, looking away.

"What's wrong?" Gil looked anxiously at his master, who blushed.

"It's nothing, I'm just a bit confused."

"I can help, if you want. Is it Alice?"

"Kind of," Oz blushed. "We didn't actually... you know... I mean, she did take her top off, but..." his blush deeped, "We fell asleep before we could do anything, so I've never actually..." Oz's blush reached a red that Gil only reached when he reached his _most_ embarrassed or shy moments.

"Do you like Alice?" Gil asked, surprised by the role reversal. Normally, Oz was the mature one. But in this case, Oz was nine years younger than him, and had never had a girlfriend, much less slept with a girl. Gil, on the other hand, had had more than his share of girls during the years Oz had been in the Abyss.

"I did, but when I saw you two together, you looked so happy and perfect... And then I met Alyss, and just listening to her in my head... you know... she's so funny and sweet..."

"So you like Alyss?" Gil smiled. Oz nodded, smiling a little in response.

"How about you? Do you still love Alice?" Oz smiled, his voice growing muffled as he started to fall asleep.

"Go to sleep, you're tired." Gil said, standing up.

"I thought so," Oz smiled.

* * *

"What do you think of love, Break?" Sharon asked, as Break unwrapped a heart-shaped lolly. He looked up at her, surprised.

"Well, ojou-sama... I think that... with the right person, love is beautiful. With the wrong person, it's a messy affair that should just be avoided completely." Break looked at the lolly, as if fascinated by its pink and red stripes.

"And if it is with the right person?" Sharon leaned forwards, curious to hear his response.

"Then I'd tell them." Break smiled. He looked at the lolly one last time, and then handed it to Sharon.

"I'm going to ask Liam-san to do some paperwork for me. You should sleep, Ojou-sama, you look tired."

"It's nothing, I just stay up late reading sometimes." Sharon blushed. Break laughed.

"As if you haven't read all these books at least twice already." Smiling, he walked out of Sharon's study. Sharon watched the door close, then smiled. She held the lolly up to the light, then gave it a little lick, then smiled even more. Carefully, she put the books she had been planning to read back onto the shelf, then headed off to bed, turning the light off on her way out. The strawberry lolly, which had always been her favourite flavour, somehow tasted just that little bit sweeter.

* * *

A/N: I don't think it turned out that bad considering I fell asleep half way through and I couldn't focus enough to type properly. Cheshire's world next chapter, which will be up whenever. I refuse to say "soon" as it appears to be some kind of jinx. My Pandora Hearts/Higurashi cross-over is up. It's called 'Restart'. If you want, give it a look, tell me what you think :) Also, I'm in between animes at the moment, and I'm not sure what to watch next, so if anyone has any recommendations, I'd appreciate those.


	15. I'm scared

A/N: I fell asleep yesterday, and I am juggling this with MSN today, to this is probably going to be a little bit... disjointed. Is this really a 'M' fanfic, or could I change it to 'T'? Because apart from a little bit of the first chapter, I don't think it's that bad. Any opinions? I also come bearing good news! Thanks to worldreminiscence's comments about chapter eleven, I am now determined to get this back on track as an AlicexGil fanfic! All hail worldreminiscence, I will see what I can do in the next chapter!

* * *

"Alice stays behind." Alyss declared to the group.

"But I need to see what really happened!" Alice argued back.

"You allowed me to scatter your memories for a reason, and I don't want you to remember that reason!"

"You just don't want me recovering my memories of Jack! You always liked him better!"

"Jack wasn't in your memories of the Tragedy! I don't want you to remember how you died!"

"I know how I died! I had my throat slashed with a pair of scissors!"

The rest of the group watched with amusement as the twins settled into yet another argument.

"You call me a slut, what about you? First Jack was your Edward, then Oz became your Edward, and now... Vincent's your Jacob? What the hell?" Alice screamed.

"I was only joking! At least I have my priorities sorted out in my head! At least I can tell the difference between my Edward and my Mike!"

"How many more twilight references can they make?" Oz groaned, having been forced to read the whole series to them while they were sealed inside his body.

"What do you have against Twilight, Oz?" Sharon asked, hands placed lovingly on her Twilight books.

"They're crap!" he replied, a little bit more venom than he had intended creeping into his voice. Alice and Alyss instantly broke off their argument and stared at him in shock.

"Anyway, I think that B-Rabbit's powers would be useful in Cheshire's world," Break said, looking irritated at the break in the real conversation, "And with Cheshire on our side this time, I think that we have a better chance of re-obtaining Alice's memories without the Baskervilles obtaining Alyss."

He looked around, waiting to see if anyone would argue, then stood up, concluding "We leave this afternoon." before walking out the door.

"But, if we need to re-obtain Alice's memories, all we need to do is have Cheshire come to this world with the core to his world!" Alyss shouted back at him. Break walked back to the door, looking irritated.

"But then, Cheshire's world would crumble, and the Baskervilles would know that we had Alice's memories. We need you to recreate the edited memories from before and replace them as the core to that world. That way, we can put off an attack for as long as possible." He looked around again, waiting for more comments, then walked away.

The group looked around nervously, all unprepared for what could potentially lie ahead. Gil, Oz, Echo and Vincent had returned from the Nightray household that morning, and were sat in Sharon's study with Sharon herself, Alice and Alyss.

"I'm hungry," muttered Alice, walking to the door.

"Yeah, I'll come with you." Alyss muttered, running after her. The twins walked down to the kitchen in silence. As soon as they were alone, Alice pulled Alyss off to the side.

"Onee-chan... who killed me?" she whispered, her voice betraying no emotion, her fringe falling over her eyes.

"If we're lucky, you won't have to find out." Alyss whispered back in an equally neutral voice, her fringe falling over her equally violet eyes.

"I see..." Alice pressed herself into her twin's arms, "I'm scared."

"I know. I'm here, though." Alyss whispered, squeezing her tight.

The afternoon came quicker than anyone had anticipated, and as they all gathered in Sharon's study, everyone looked terrified. Sharon would, again, be staying behind as an anchor, in case anyone was pulled into the Abyss. There were no parting words, or hasty final instructions. Everyone was too concerned about Alice, who was looking increasingly pale and nauseous. Same as last time, Sharon opened a way to Cheshire's world, and everyone jumped, Alice clinging to Alyss as they neared Cheshire's dimension.

"Cheshire!" Alyss screamed, launching herself into her beloved chain's arms, while everyone else tried to get their bearings. They were at the bottom of the winding staircase they had landed at last time, and Cheshire was sat on the bottom step, cradling Alyss in his arms.

"The Baskervilles aren't in this world," He reported to Alyss.

"They're not in the Abyss either, so we can assume we're safe." Alyss smiled, before turning back to the group. Alice also looked at the group, and noticed Oz looking down a particular corridor, from which she could feel more fear than she had ever felt before, so unknown, yet terrifyingly familiar.

"Oz, is that where..." she trailed off as Oz looked suddenly very guilty, and tried to say "No, it's nothing". Suddenly, she felt herself running, ignoring Alyss and Oz's cries for her to come back. Soon, she was running through a maze of blood, heat and bodies. Soon, she was running alongside a small, blood covered blond child with one golden, one crimson eye.

* * *

A/N: Who killed Alice next chapter! Sorry this was rushed, but I got really caught up in conversation, but friends are more important than fanfics, anyway. I also ended up singing to all seven versions of 'Dear you' from Higurashi (Dear You ~ Bond... XD), and I can't type and sing at the same time. I should be able to upload before the week ends.


	16. Liar

A/N: I think I'm getting near the end of this fanfic. This chapter is based on a dream I had shortly after the dream I had that inspired the first chapter. Again, I don't remember that dream. I just started writing, and came out with this. I was originally going to put it into another fanfic, but then decided to use it in this one. Enjoy.

* * *

_Cold... Dark... It hurts... Hey... Who am I?_

Alice ran through the smoke and blood, following a blond child who she once believed had killed her. As she ran, unwanted memories flooded her head. Memories of darkness, and of loneliness without end. Memories of a hundred years within the Abyss.

_Alice... That's my name! Alice... Alice... Alice what?_

Memories of pointless, endless battles with other chains. Memories of searching for other memories, but most of all... memories of the beginning.

_What is this place?_

"_Alice has dark hair! Alice has dark hair!" A chorus of voices echoed around her. She opened her eyes and sat up. Dolls. She was surrounded by dolls sat on shelves in a room that seemed... familiar... but when had she been here before?_

"_Alice looks scared! Alice looks scared!" The dolls chanted, some floating over towards her._

"_Get away," she whispered, her voice faltering in fear. The dolls floated closer._

"_Get away!" she screamed, as one nearly touched her. Suddenly, a scythe appeared in her hand, and she swung at all the dolls within its range, watching them disintegrate as she cut into them._

"_Alice is angry! Alice is angry!" the dolls on the shelves chanted. She could hear footsteps running towards her from down a passageway almost hidden between two shelves, and a voice calling, "Alice? Alice?". Unwilling to face whatever was down there, she turned and ran through another passageway she instinctively knew would take her out of the room with the dolls. Soon, all the light from that room had faded, along with the voice calling out her name. She was running past broken structures and indistinct shadows. This place... it had a name... a name she once knew... Abyss. The Abyss, with its creatures... Chains. Names she instinctively knew crowded into her head. Contract. Chain. Abyss. Will of the Abyss. The voice that had been calling her name... That had been The 'Will of the Abyss'. An unknown something that filled her with dread. An unknown something she never would know. She would continue to run away from it, and so she did. For a hundred years._

"_A nostalgic sound..." like a music box... reminiscent of someone precious... "Is it calling me?" memories... Her memories were calling her! And she would answer!_

"Alyss, the Baskervilles have entered this world!" Cheshire called, pulling Alice out of her memories.

"Go!" Alyss called from behind her. Too close behind her. Alice began to run faster. She needed to know... to understand... to remember...

Alice could feel her lungs burning. She had overtaken the child Vincent long ago, instinctively knowing which shortcuts to take through her memories that would get her to her death faster.

"Alice, come back!" Alyss screamed, running after her sister.

"Alice!" Oz shouted, running just behind Alyss. Gil and Vincent were running just behind them, and Echo and Break were a few metres further behind them. As Alice's tower came into view, Alyss and Oz ran even faster, desperate to stop Alice from remembering. Alyss overtook her twin jsut as they neared the door. Standing in the doorway, she held her arms out and threw them around Alice, just standing her ground as Alice ploughed into her.

"I killed you!" she screamed, desperately trying to keep Alice from going up the stairs. "I killed you! I was jealous that you were free to live in the real world, that you could see Jack! I was jealous, so I decided to kill you! I left the Abyss, took Vincent's scissors and cut your throat! I killed you! Now you know the truth, please can we leave? I'm begging you! I don't want you to see! Please!"

"Liar!" Alice screamed, wiggling free and continuing up the stairs alongside a child Vincent, with Alyss , Oz, Gil and Vincent just behind her.

"Alice, please don't go!" Alyss screamed, reaching towards her twin, who was just out of her grasp. Alice burst into her room, with the others following close behind. Just in front of her stood the child Vincent, staring at a human Alice, who was desperately trying to apologise to a young Gil.

"I'm sorry! I promise you, I don't love Jack! I don't know why I said his name that time!"

"Liar," Gil muttered almost inaudibly, his fringe covering his normally golden eyes. In his fist, he clutched a pair of Vincent's scissors.

"I'm not lying! I promise you, Gil! I love you!"

"Liar!" Gil shouted in response, his golden eyes filled with rage as his fringe fell away. The human Alice flinched back as Gil raised the scissors high above his head, and brought them down.

* * *

A/N: I know it's short, but I don't really feel like writing much anymore. I wasn't lying when I said I would try and get this back on track as a GilxAlice fanfic, but I've been building up to this for a while, and I didn't want to turn back on it now. I don't know how to get it back on track, but I'll try. I'll upload again soon.


	17. Burning Sabrie

A/N: After having Gil kill Alice, I didn't really feel like writing, but we just rescued two orphaned hedgehogs from our garden, so that really cheered me up :3 Anyway, moving onto the next chapter. My friend, bless her for having to endure my anime obsession, she's got the patience of a saint, said that it probably could be changed to a 'T'. If anyone disagrees, please say.

* * *

IMPORTANT! This chapter is from the point of view of everyone a hundred years ago. The chapter probably won't make any sense otherwise.

* * *

_Blood... So much blood... It's hot... it's too hot... Blood..._

Alice fell back, blood dying a burning red trail down her light blue dress. Her eyes were wide open, staring, accusing, betrayed. Gil felt metal slide out of his hand and hit the floor with a loud clatter. Too loud, everything was too loud. Everything was blaming, persecuting, mocking him.

_Jack... Jack... Glen... fighting... so much blood... Burning... Sabrie... The fall of Sabrie... everyone died because of me... Alice... Alice..._ Gil covered his ears, trying to block out the voice in his head and screamed, collapsing to his knees.

"Nii-san!" Vincent shouted, running to his brother. Throwing the scissors aside, he put his arms around Gil, who was sobbing and shaking.

"It's all right, Nii-san, it's all right. We'll wait for Jack. We'll wait for Jack here, and he'll come and fix everything, and-"

"Jack broke everything!" Gil shouted viciously, "Jack took Alice, and now Jack's gonna die!"

_Good... He should die, then maybe Alice will come back..._

"Jack should die," Gil whispered, agreeing with the voices, "Jack should die with Sabrie. No one can survive a fight with Glen Baskerville..." he began to laugh hysterically, unable to stop. Vincent held on to his brother harder. He could feel it burning in Gil's mind. Insanity. Vincent had always had a slightly different perspective on things to other people, but he had never been, by any definition, insane.

"Nii-san... I'll take your insanity." Vincent whispered as Gil's laughter became quiet sobs. Closing his eyes, he held Gil in his arms, feeling the burning flowing into his own mind. As Gil fell unconscious, he opened his eyes, looking with fresh insight at the dead girl before him. Gil was right, she did deserve to die. He had killed her cat – Cheshire – for breaking Gil's heart, but now he saw that he should have killed the girl as well when he had the chance. Vincent began to laugh hysterically. The ground under his feet began to tremble as the Way to the Abyss opened. The world was going to die, but if he were to kill it for Gil... then everything would be fine. Vincent closed his eyes as darkness engulfed them both, and opened them when a small stream of light washed over him. Supporting Gil, he walked over to the doorway where the light was originating from. Alice was laid on the floor writhing in pain, while a human-Cheshire knelt beside her, trying to comfort her. Vincent couldn't help laugh as he walked in.

"Hi. Good afternoon, Alice."

"Vincent!" she gasped.

"That's so weird," Vincent smiled, "Alice's hair is... all white. But you... shouldn't be here. You can't be here. You should be dead. You died that day. I know you did! So why?"

"Why are you here, Vincent?" White-Alice screamed, her voice like an angry child's.

"Cheshire never did anything wrong!" the human-Cheshire shouted. Vincent flinched as incredible pain ripped through him, and blackness engulfed him once again.

Alyss could feel the insanity burning in Vincent's mind, and knew that he had been the one to kill Alice. Rage kept boiling up inside her, threatening to overflow. Somehow, she managed to keep it under control, knowing Jack would be disappointed in her if she did something bad. Jack would fix everything... Jack...

"Jack was covered in blood, fighting with Glen. His clothes were all dyed red. It was like roses blooming all over the combatants!"

"You're lying! Jack wouldn't die! Vincent, why do you always tease me so...?"

"Jack won't come! Absolutely not! Jack tried to help you, all this happened because of _you_! Sabrie being destroyed, even Gil and I ending up like this! You're the one who killed Jack!"

"_You're lying_!" Alyss screamed, her knees collapsing beneath her. She had killed Jack... she had killed Alice... She had driven Vincent mad... all because she had cared for Jack more than her sister...

_So kill the rest of them... destroy this world... destroy yourself..._ Alyss could feel the rage overflowing out of her, seeking to destroy anything it reached, and she didn't stop it, didn't want to stop it. Until the visitor, whom she had completely forgotten about, called out a single name and reminded her who she really needed to worry about.

"Alice!"

Alice lay unconscious on the floor. She had reached her too late to prevent her from becoming a chain, but at least she was alive. Alyss looked down at her. She had found her twin drifting in the Abyss, surrounded by tiny little golden orbs – memories. Alice had chosen to get rid of her memories, and Alyss had let them drift. Except for one. Looking at that memory now, she could see clearly in her mind's eye a vision of Gil with a pair of scissors raised over his head. This memory she could never return to Alice. Leaving her sister's side for a few minutes, she gave Cheshire to memory. Voices came echoing from the room she had jsut left.

"Alice looks scared! Alice looks scared!", followed by a scream.

"Get away!"

"Alice!" Alyss shouted, running back towards her sister, who had escaped into the Abyss.

Vincent was being carried somewhere. Strong arms held him. Pain shot through him with every step the person holding him took.

"Gil..." he whispered. The person carrying him stopped.

"Gil? Is that your name?"

"Where's Gil...?" Vincent whispered again, unable to speak any louder.

"Search the grounds! There may be another person here!" Vincent heard the person carrying him shout as he fell into darkness again.

"Oscar-sama!" a woman's voice was screaming, and Gil flinched at the sound, which sent another ripple of pain running through his body. Suddenly, he was being lifted by a pair of strong arms. Opening his eyes, he caught a glimpse of a blond boy and girl looking at him with curiosity as he was carried past. _That child looks familiar_ he thought. _There should be someone else... someone precious..._ his mind presented him with and image of two pairs of eyes, one violet, one crimson and gold. These images meant nothing to him, and he soon forgot them as he passed out again.

* * *

A/N: This turned out longer than I expected it to, although I imagine that the quotes from the anime added a lot to it. I'll upload the next chapter by the end of next week.


	18. Breaking

A/N: The thought of going back to school made me realize how little I've prepared for the coming year, so I have been busy with that, and still not done any preparation! DAMN YOU FACEBOOK! Plus, I've been downloading a bucket load of music, too. Anyway, here is chapter 18. We're back to real time, not 100 years ago.

* * *

Everyone froze as Alice's body collapsed before them. Oz had seen it before, but that didn't make it any easier. But now he knew that it had been Gil... Oz looked at his servant, who was being held back at the door by Vincent. The look on his face almost broke Oz's heart.

"Get him out of here!" Alyss shouted to Vincent as she clutched a trembling Alice in her arms. As Vincent and Gil disappeared down the stairs again, Oz put his arms around Alice and Alyss, hoping to hold Alice together when she broke.

Alice clutched her head in her hands. Everything was burning around her, and voices were echoing everywhere. Everything Gil had ever said to her replayed itself for her over and over again in a cycle of endless torment.

"_My Alice,"... "I love you, Alice. Do you still love me?"... "Now I know why I hated you"... "LIAR!"_

Alice screamed as her heart break. She had the feeling that if Oz and Alyss didn't have their arms around her, she would break, too. She had given Gil everything: her heart, her soul, her virginity. He had only taken her life. No wonder Alyss had tried to prevent her from coming to this world. Cheshire's world... no... _her_ world. It was her memories. Oz had been right to try and destroy it previously. Maybe she should finish the job.

_No, you shouldn't_, Alyss's voice echoed in her head as she began to pull apart the seams that held Cheshire's world together.

* * *

"Vincent-sama!" Echo shouted, as Vincent and Gil ran out of Alice's tower.

"Echo! Where's the Mad Hatter?" Vincent called back.

"He ran after Cheshire when the Baskervilles entered this world!"

"Sharon!" Vincent shouted.

"Vincent! What's happening?" Sharon's voice echoed from Echo's shadow.

"I can't explain now. You need to get Gil out of here. We're not going to the Abyss, it will only take one of you to get us all out of here! Echo! We need to find Break, now! Where did they go?" Vincent called the last instruction to his servant as Gil faded from view, back into the real world.

"I can find it quicker on my own. Go with Gilbert-sama." Echo said.

"No, Echo-"

"Go. I can find it quicker on my own. Sharon-ojou-sama." Echo called, and Vincent faded back into the real world. Echo looked anxiously towards Alice's tower, concerned by Alice's scream, and began running towards Break.

* * *

Lottie looked up as cracks began to appear in the walls of the corridor she was stood in. She and her brothers had split up to search for Cheshire and the truth of Sabrie. She had to admit, she was impressed by his fighting skills, but even a chain like Cheshire couldn't stand up to Leon. Kneeling down next to the bloodied and battered Cheshire, she gently licked the blood off his lips and laughed, tightening a fist around the bell around his neck.

"It seems I've found what I was looking for," she giggled.

"I wouldn't be too certain about that," a voice said from behind her. Break held his sword against her throat as she stood up, bell still held firmly in her hand.

"Hand over Alice-san's memories, Lottie."

"What if I don't want to?" Lottie smiled seductively over her shoulder, looking Break in the eye.

"That's unfortunate. I had truly hoped we could become friends. Cheshire?" Break glanced down at the beaten chain, who sprang at Lottie and wrestled the bell out of her grip.

"Leon!" Lottie called, and her chain appeared, snarling at Break, while Lottie turned to Cheshire. Break tried, but he could not get past Leon to Cheshire, who was slowly weakening in his fight against Lottie. Suddenly, a streak of blue flashed by, leaving a red trail of blood streaked across Lottie's chest. Standing over Cheshire, Echo slid her knives back up her sleeves as the Baskerville collapsed and Leon faded away.

"Echo-chan, that was very impressive." Break smiled, putting his sword away.

"It's just-" Echo's voice was cut off suddenly, as Cheshire grabbed her around the waist and leapt backwards, out of the way as an enormous pile of rubble collapsed where she had been stood.

"Break! I've just lost Echo-chan's shadow!" Sharon's voice came through.

"Echo-chan!" Break shouted, unable to see any way through the rubble that had blocked up the entire corridor.

"It's just 'Echo'" Echo's voice came through faintly.

"I'll get her our safely!" Cheshire's voice came through after hers, "Go and protect Alyss!"

Cheshire took Echo's hand in his claws, and began to run through a labyrinth of twisting corridors and rose gardens.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"There's a doorway into the real world, but the other three Baskervilles are close to it, so we have to try and get around them."

"Three?"

"Lily" Cheshire called, starting to run down one corridor, then turning back down another. Echo stopped asking questions as she started to feel out of breath. When she felt unable to run anymore, Cheshire pulled her up into his arms and continued running. When she got her breath back, she realised that she felt safe in Cheshire's arms. She didn't feel afraid the way she did around Vincent.

* * *

_Why shouldn't I destroy it?_

_Because you'll kill us all!_

_Why should I care, when I'm already dead?_

_Because you're not dead! You're alive, Alice! You're alive!_

_I'm a chain! I shouldn't even exist!_ Alice shouted back at Alyss's voice, echoing in her head. Suddenly, she felt Alyss's concern turn to anger.

_If that's the case, then none of us should exist! You, I and Cheshire are Chains! Oz was never wanted by anyone, not even his own father! Gil should have been taken over by Glen a hundred years ago! Vincent is a Child of Misfortune – a curse! Break should have become a chain in the Abyss! Echo is a Baskerville – Zwei –who should have died a hundred times over by now! You were dead, but I brought you back to life, and I can just as easily change that!_

_Then do it!_

_No, because you won't die, you'll just 'exist'! You'll go back to how you were in the Abyss, cold and alone!_

"Alice," Oz whispered, unaware of the conversation happening between the twins he held in his arms, "I promised to protect you to the end. Please, don't let the end come so soon."

Alyss felt Alice give in, and withdraw into herself, like she had done a hundred years ago, blocking everything out. As the destruction stopped and Cheshire's world returned to normal, Sharon's voice gently echoed out of her shadow, "Is it safe to bring everyone back now?"

"Yes, it's safe, Sharon-chan." Oz replied, suddenly sounding very tired.

* * *

Sharon, Gil and Vincent anxiously waited for the others to return. Sharon was reading one of her new romance novels, while Gil, who had put his gun on the table next to him, was staring at the wall, watched by a worried Vincent.

Finally, the group faded into view. Alyss and Oz carefully stepped away from Alice to give her a bit of air. Alice looked around, tears running down her cheeks, eyes covered by her fringe. Suddenly, she snatched up the gun on the table, and aimed it at Gil.

* * *

A/N: Sorry, I know it was kinda broken up, but I'm a bit out of practise, it's been a while since I last did any writing. Anway, VOTING TIME! I'm debating several possible routes, and I'm not sure which one to take, so I thought I'd let you all decide. First:

Does Gil die: A) Now B) Never C) Later

Pairings1: A) EchoxVincent B) EchoxCheshire

Pairings2: A) OzxAlice B) OzxAlyss

Should Gil and Alice be together at the end? A) Yes B) No

I'll be starting the next chapter next Saturday! Tell me what you want to vote for either in a review or in a PM. For anyone who read Restart, I'll try and put up the second chapter of that soon, as well.


	19. Unforgivable

Why must I have so many computer problems? I also tend to procrastinate all my homework until the last minute, which has been eating up a lot of my time, as well. But anyway, I finally got around to looking at your votes, and here are the results:

Does Gil die? A. now) 0 B. never) 5 C. later) 0

Pairings 1: A. EchoxVincent) 3 B. EchoxCheshire) 2

Pairings 2: A. OzxAlice) 2 B. OzxAlyss) 2

Should Gil and Alice be together at the end? A. Yes) 3 B. No) 1

Anyway, here is the next chapter! It's kinda rushed, because I felt bad about leaving it for so long and wanted to get it up quickly.

* * *

"Alice!" Oz shouted, leaping for his dark-haired chain as Vincent instinctively leapt in front of his beloved brother. As Oz reached for the gun in Alice's trembling hands, it went off, leaving a sharp ringing in his ears and a deep red scratch against Vincent's cheek where the bullet grazed him.

"Get Gil out!" Oz shouted to Vincent, pinning Alice to the floor, as Alyss and Sharon rushed forward to help. As he watched the two Nightrays disappear out of the door, he realised that Alice wasn't fighting or struggling. Looking down at her, he was surprised to see tears in her eyes.

"Oz?" Sharon whispered, "Go and see if Gil is all right."

"But what about-"

"Alice will be fine with us. Be a good master and protect your servant." Sharon said, not looking at him, but at Alice, cradled in Alyss's arms, with increasing concern. Oz leaned in, kissed Alice gently on the cheek, and slowly walked out to follow Gil.

"Alice, look at me," Sharon whispered, but Alice simply pressed herself closer to Alyss.

"Alice, please-"

"Don't touch me!" Alice screamed, recoiling from Sharon's gentle hand, "I wasn't lying, so don't touch me!" she screamed, dissolving into fresh, unstoppable sobs. Sharon and Alyss looked at each other with despairing eyes, neither knowing what to do.

Gil sat down on his bed, watched anxiously by Oz and Vincent. He had been taken back to the Nightray mansion to give him some distance from Alice. His beloved sweetheart who he had killed out of unfounded jealousy. Suddenly, the image of Alice, falling, bloodstained, came to him, and he flinched away from it, closing his eyes to block it out. His eyes flew open in surprise as Vincent wrapped his arms around his shoulders, and whispered in his ear, "You did nothing wrong." Gil looked up at Oz, hoping to see if he had forgiven him, as well. Oz saw him looking and smiled his most dazzling smile, the one Gil had waited ten years to pull from the Abyss. The smile became blurred as Gil felt tears running down his cheeks, which made Oz laugh.

"Ten years, and you're still a crybaby," he smiled, giving Gil a hug, before leaning in and whispering, "She will forgive you eventually."

* * *

A/N: Short and sweet. I haven't written in ages, so I'm a bit rusty and that's why it's so short. I'll get to work on the next chapter, which will focus on Break and Cheshire and Echo getting out of the Abyss, and then the chapter after will be another Alice/Alyss chapter. Hope you weren't too disappointed by this.


	20. I Wasn't Lying

A/N: Two pieces of English Language coursework, two pieces of English Literature coursework, theatre devised piece, stress, insomnia, piano lessons and practice, work etc. the list goes on as to why I haven't written anything in months. Sorry about that, but schoolwork does have to take priority. Anyway, it's the holidays so I can get at least one chapter uploaded. I'll also try and work on Restart.

* * *

"You weren't lying about what?" Alyss whispered. She was lying on the bed face-to-face with her sister, not daring to touch her in case Alice lashed out, but wanting to comfort her.

"Huh?" Alice muttered back, her voice still a little shaky and raw from the hysterical sobbing and screaming she had been doing up until an hour ago. Tired and worn out, she just wanted to go to sleep. She just wanted to drift in darkness. She just wanted to go back to the Abyss, before she had made that damned contract, when everything had been so much simpler. Lonely, but so much simpler.

"You said 'I wasn't lying' earlier, after we got back." Alyss looked into Alice's red, puffy eyes, waiting patiently for an answer.

"That night in Sabrie, when… Gil said that I was lying when I told him I loved him. But I wasn't, I really did love him."

"Do you still love him now?"

Alice didn't reply. Honestly, she didn't know. She did, but she also hated him because he had killed her, had taken everything from her. How could she love someone who had hurt her in that way.

"Love isn't perfect," Alyss whispered, "every relationship has faults, obstacles to overcome. If you don't work at it, then a relationship isn't really worth having."

Alice looked up at her twin in confusion. This kind of talk didn't come from the Will of the Abyss. Alyss sensed her confusion, and laughed softly. "Sharon made me read her books as well." Slowly, hesitantly, Alyss reached out and put her around Alice, pulling her twin towards her chest. Alice froze, unaccustomed to hugs from her sister, but allowed herself to be drawn in.

"Everything will work out somehow," Alyss whispered. If Alice and Gil could be happy together – if Alice could be happy – that was fine. If Gil hurt her sister again… she would kill him. But for now, she was content to have her baby sister lie in her arms, as if they were the only ones in the world.

* * *

A/N: Short and sweet, much like the previous chapter. Because I haven't written in so long, I've kinda forgotten where I was going with this, but I do know that I'm getting to the end. I will try and get the next chapter up soon. Please review and tell me whether you think it is worth continuing.


	21. Rain

A/N: Good news! In 2 weeks, I go on study leave for my A Level exams, so I'll have a lot more time to get on with these stories! I mean, uh… *ahem* Unfortunately, I'll be on study leave and will have to devote myself entirely to revision. I'll try and find some equilibrium between the two. Wish me luck. As with every chapter since Paper Cuts (chapter 3), I've just sat down at the computer and written whatever sounded coherent that came into my head. Enjoy!

* * *

"Is she alright?"

"Yeah, she's asleep at the moment. I'm sure she'll be fine, she's tough. A century of watching her in the Abyss has taught me that much."

Alice listened to the conversation between Sharon and Alyss. She had been waiting for ages for her sister to leave, waiting to be alone.

"So, what do we do now?"  
"Leave her until morning. It's best to - " The sound of heavy rain as it started pounding on the window cut off the rest of Alyss's sentence. Alice sighed, and rolled over in her bed to look at the rain pouring down outside the Reinsworth mansion.

Why did it have to be Gil who had killed her? Why not Vincent, and she had suspected for so long. Even Glen, who had kept her out of sight in that tower for so long, would have seemed more likely. She had loved Gil, and thought he had loved her in return. So why would he kill her? She closed her eyes tightly, and curled up into a ball under the blanket. She lay like that for a very long time, listening to her heartbeat and the rain.

Gil looked out of the window at the rain pouring down outside the Nightray mansion. He was alone, lying on his bed. Vincent had gone to take care of some business at Pandora and Oz was sleeping in the room next door. He lifted up his hand and looked at it, silhouetted against the moonlight coming in through the window. Was this the hand that had killed Alice? Yes. He had killed his love in cold blood with this hand. Clenching his fingers into a fist, he brought his hand back down again, thinking about what he should do.

She would go and talk to him, Alice decided. She would go and ask him why he had killed her, and if he wouldn't talk, then she would kill him. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

He would have to talk to her sooner or later, and what better time than now? He couldn't take back what he had done, but he could try and apologise, at the very least. Maybe let her kill him, if she so desired.

Almost in sync, the Rabbit and the Raven sat up, stood up, tiptoed down the stairs, and out the door of the mansions. Bracing themselves against the cold and pounding rain, they each began walking, shocked upon coming across their other half on the dark and deserted road that connected the mansions.

"Alice…" Gil started, unable to say anything now that she was actually stood before him.

"Why?" she asked, angrily, glaring at him, fire blazing behind her violet eyes.

"I… I don't know."

"Yes you do, you were the one who did it! Why did you kill me?"

"I don't- "

"Liar! WHY DID YOU KILL ME?"

"Because you loved Jack more than me! I was jealous! I was a child! I didn't know what to do, so I tried to stop my heart from hurting by taking to thorn out of it!" Gil shouted, advancing towards her, anger building up within him.

Alice was stunned. "But… I didn't love Jack more than you. That was Alyss. I always loved you more than I'd loved anyone." She could feel all her anger melting away. Hate was the motivation she had attributed to his actions, but love… that had never even crossed her mind.

Gil looked equally stunned, but he shook his head, and recovered his anger.

"Liar," he muttered under his breath.

"No," she said, backing away, "I'm not lying. I promise,"

"Liar! You lied last time, and you're lying now!" he shouted, and Alice could see the insanity that had been there a hundred years ago starting to rekindle itself.

"I'm not lying!" Alice screamed desperately as Gil reached into his pocket and pulled out his gun. She leapt forwards as he pulled the trigger, threw her arms around his neck as the bullet tore through her side, and kissed him, passionately.

She could feel the insanity burning in his mind. It was similar Alyss's when she got a bit…crazy. It was insanity burned into the mind by the Abyss. She broke the kiss long enough to whisper "I'll destroy your insanity," and pressed her lips to his again. Slowly, tenderly, she stretched out her powers as far as she could under Raven's seal, until it reached that burning in his mind. Gently, ignoring the dull throbbing where the bullet had torn through her side and the blood flowing from the wound, and the heat on her cheeks of his tears, she crushed it.

As both collapsed to the ground, falling unconscious, Gil put his arms around her, the gun falling from his hand, and whispered "I'm sorry,"

Oz jerked awake from his sleep, clutching his side as a hot, fiery pain tore through it.

_If the chain is hurt, the contractor feels it._

_Gil._

Leaping out of bed, he rushed to the room next door. Gil was gone. The room was empty.

"Oz?" a voice called from down the corridor. It was Vincent, carrying an unconscious Echo in his arms.

"Gil's gone!" Oz shouted, running towards him.

"Alice is gone!" Sharon's voice suddenly came echoing out of his shadow. "Alyss said she left about an hour ago!"

"Sharon! Gil's gone too! I think Alice might be hurt. I got this pain in my side a few minutes ago, it felt like I was getting shot again."

"I can't find either of their shadows, so I can't bring them to us. We need to start looking!"

It took over three hours to find them. By that time, the rain had stopped, and the sun's rays were just peeking over the horizon. Gil seemed to have no injuries, but Alice had lost a substantial amount of blood from the wound that tore her side open.

Alice was immediately taken back to Pandora for treatment, and everyone else anxiously returned to the Reinsworth mansion, waiting for her to come back.

In the evening, Oz went up to the room in which Gil had secluded himself. Knocking gently, he opened the door. Gil was sat on the edge of the bed, head in his hands, sobbing quietly. Oz sat down next to him.

"Gil…" he began, uncertain of what to say. "Gil… it wasn't your fault. Vincent told us about the insanity. You weren't in control." But Oz could tell Gil didn't believe him.

"It doesn't change the fact that I killed her, and that I could have killed her again." Gil replied, not looking up. Oz put his arms around Gil's shoulders and smiled. Ten years, and he was still the same cry baby he had been when he was fourteen.

"It doesn't change the fact that you love her, either. When she comes back, all you have to do is tell her that you love her, just as much as she loves you." Oz smiled encouragingly at his servant, even though both knew that there was a very large possibility that Alice wouldn't be coming back.

Suddenly, Alyss burst into the room, tears in her eyes.

"Oz! Gil! Alice is…"

* * *

A/N: Alice is what? In all honesty, I have no idea either. I was going to let her live, but then I thought that would be too predictable, and if Alice died I could have Gil to myself to add to the rest of my anime male harem. But I also love her too much to kill her off. So, I guess we'll all (including me) find out if she lives or dies in the next chapter. There will probably only be two or three more chapters after this one before I end it. The next chapter of Restart is up for anyone who is interested, and I'll try to get the next chapters up for both this and that soon.


	22. Who?

A/N: Oh my gosh! ! I have just finished The Vision of Escaflowne, and it is amazing, and Van is really hot! If you haven't watched it, I suggest that you open a new tab, find somewhere online where you can watch it, and then come back and read this while you're waiting for the video to load. Seriously, it's one of the best anime series I've ever watched (although I do tend to say that about most animes I watch)! If you don't want to watch Escaflowne, give Mai-HiME a try, that was also pretty good. Anyway, before you get on with the chapter, you might want to read the whole story through again, just because there's a few references to previous chapters.

* * *

"Alice is… she's alive!" Alyss smiled through her tears. "They just brought her back just now."

"Can we go and see her?" Oz asked, as he and Gil stood up, "Is she well enough?"

"Let's go find out!" Alyss beamed.

The trio walked briskly along the corridors of the Reinsworth mansion until they reached the room where Alice was staying for her recovery. As they reached the door, they hesitated.

"Should we go in?" Oz asked nervously, "Do you really think she's well enough?"

While they were discussing the pros and cons of seeing Alice, a servant carrying a bowl of soup on a tray appeared, opened the door, and entered. The trio listened very carefully, hardly daring to breathe.

"What the hell is this crap? I didn't ask for chicken soup, I asked for chicken! And sausages wrapped in bacon! And beef! And lamb! And meat! Meat! MEAT! _**MEAT!**_ Do you have any idea how hungry I am? Honestly, you're a worse servant than Oz! Go, get me some real food! And by real food, I mean MEAT!"

The servant emerged from Alice's room, the bowl comically on top of his head like a builder's hard hat, dripping soup onto his shoulders. Fuming, the poor servant stormed back down the corridor in the direction of the kitchen.

"I'd say she's well enough." Alyss said, looking stunned.

"Oz," Gil said, "I'm going to come back and see her later." He turned, and began walking away.

"Are you alright, Gil?"

"Fine. I just need a cigarette."

"Smoking kills!"

Oz watched his friend walk away before going in see Alice.

"Hey, Oz, look at all the stitches I needed!" she shouted happily as he approached her bed, yanking up her hospital gown to show him.

Alice, Alyss and Oz spent all day talking and laughing and telling jokes. Alice smiled in a way she hadn't done for a long time, Oz noticed, and he also noticed how her eyes kept looking over at the door, as if expecting someone else to walk in. The only person to walk through the door was the servant, in a new uniform that wasn't covered in soup, bringing a tray full of various meats. As it got darker and darker outside, and they all started to feel tired, Sharon came and told them all they should go to bed. While Alyss was dragged off to do some 'studying' in Sharon's study before she got too tired, Oz gave Alice a hug, and turned to leave.

"Oz…"

He turned, surprised by the sudden quiet tone of voice. Alice wasn't looking at him, but at her hands which were clasped in her lap.

"Yes?"

"Do you remember in Cheshire's world… did you mean all those things that you said?"

* * *

A/N: See chapter 4/episode 15

* * *

Oz frowned in confusion. "Yes. I meant it… and I still do."

"I see."

"What about Gil?"

Alice was silent, uncertain how to respond. Oz waited for her to answer, but when she didn't, he sat down on the edge of her bed, and turned her to look at him.

"Smile, Alice." He smiled gently himself, placed a small kiss on her forehead, and turned to go again. At the door, he hesitated.

"I know you're confused about who you love. But whoever you choose, me or Gil, if you're happy, I'll be happy, too. I'll protect you till the end."

Alice watched him leave. She didn't know what her heart wanted. Taking a piece of paper and a crayon from her bedside table, she drew up a list of the pros and cons of each, which ended up looking like this:

Oz Pros:

Didn't kill meSweetKindLoves me for meGot me out of the AbyssMy first lover (see chapter 13)Doesn't smoke

Oz cons:

Took advantage when I was very drunk (see ch. 13)ImmatureUseless manservant

Gil pros:

Loves meTries to protect meKnew the me from 100 years ago and still loves me

Gil cons:

Killed meTried to kill me againSmokesEmoRelated to VincentKilled me

* * *

Sitting outside on the steps that led to the front door, Gil took another drag of his seventh cigarette from his fifth packet that hour. Usually he was only on ten a day. Now… well, he was glad Break wasn't there to mock him with pictures of what lung cancer did to you. Thinking of Break reminded him of what Break had told him the morning after Gil had given Alice her memory back.

* * *

A/N: See chapter 1

* * *

_What do you intend to do about Oz-kun?_

_When the needle on Oz-kun's seal completes its revolution, the two will both be dragged into the Abyss, and you will have neither master nor lover. How will you choose when you have no choice at all?_

_You are going to lose the one you love to both masters. First you lost her to Jack, now you will lose her to Oz-kun._

The concern about them being dragged into the Abyss had been fixed thanks to the contract with Alyss, but…

"She already loved Oz-kun, and had you not interfered, she would be with him now."

Gil gasped in shock at the unexpected voice behind him, and almost swallowed his cigarette. Choking, his eyes watering, he turned to face a smiling Break looking down at him.

"How did you know what I was thinking?"

"I always know what you're thinking. I got some new lung cancer pictures, by the way, if you want me to show you them later." Break smiled, unwrapping a sweet and popping it into his mouth.

"What do you want?"

"I want to tell you that you're an idiot."

""What? What good does that do me?"

"I had a conversation with Ojou-sama a while ago (in chapter 3). I told her that I thought, and she agreed, that you and Alice are not in love, but merely affected by your memories of being in love. You were overwhelmed and blinded by this because you haven't been in love with anyone since her, and she because she is an adolescent girl with raging hormones, and an insecure, uncertain heart."

Gil stared at Break, surprised by the way he was acting so… mature!

"And then, of course, there is the issue of your taking advantage of an underage girl!" Break smiled lecherously at Gil. Maybe he wasn't so mature after all.

"Hey, what about you and Sharon, then ?"

"There is nothing between myself and Ojou-sama. Besides, even if there was, she is turning twenty-four next month, so I haven't done anything illegal." He replied, walking back into the house, leaving Gil scowling at him.

* * *

Alice sat up as the door to her room opened and Gil shyly walked in.

"Are you going to lock the door and tell me Raven has been holding another memory?" Alice smiled, and they both laughed uncertainly.

"No. I'm here to find out who you truly love, and if I truly love you."

Alice sighed, looking away.

"I… I love Oz." She hesitated, waiting for him to respond, but he simply stood passively at the end of her bed, watching her with gentle eyes.

"I thought I loved you, but I didn't understand what was in my heart, and I'm still not sure if I do or not. But I'm tired of everything that keeps happening between us. Ever since that night, misfortune has followed us everywhere, and we've both been hurt because of it. I've died once, I almost died again, and you were the cause of It. Oz would never put me in danger like that!" she broke off, reaching up to wipe away the tears running down her cheeks, but Gil reached out and brushed them away for her. They both stayed very still, looking into each other's eyes with deep intensity.

"I agree." Gil said, and kissed her gently on the forehead, before lying her down in her bed, pulling the blanket up over her, turning off the lamp on her bedside table, and walking out.

* * *

A/N: I honestly thought it was going to be a GilxAlice ending, but that's just how things turn out. Sorry to those who voted for it to end that way. I think that the next chapter will be the last. I hope you enjoyed it, now go and enjoy The Vision of Escaflowne!


	23. Water Balloons and Sacrifices!

A/N: What did you all think of Escaflowne? I assume you all watched it, like I suggested. Canaan was also EXCELLENT! Last chapter.

* * *

The morning after Gil and Alice ended, Gil was called away to the Nightray house on some urgent family business, and was gone for almost a month. Although the business was extremely serious from the family's point of view - a noble considering marrying a servant - it was almost a blessing in a way. Without that separation and distance, things probably wouldn't have turned out as well as they did, but instead would have become awkward and suffocating.

When Gil returned from his home, Vincent and Echo's wedding finally being permitted to go on, he found Alice and Oz asleep on a picnic blanket under a tree in the grounds, holding hands and smiling happily, while Alyss stood watching them, filling up water balloons from the hose pipe, undoubtedly for some sinister/hilarious prank on the happy couple. While taking his bags back up to his room, he decided that he would stop by Break's office and say 'hello'. What he heard walking past Sharon's study on the way to Break's office told him that Break was busy, and it would be best to say 'hello' later. Much later.

"Nothing going on between you, huh?" Gil muttered, almost running down to the kitchen for a drink of something strong to get that… out of his head. Looking out the window at the sleeping couple, he saw Alyss and Cheshire balanced up in the tree above Alice and Oz, each with an impossibly large pile of water balloons in their arms. It was a miracle they had managed to climb the tree. Gil smiled, and counted down along with the couple up in the tree.

"Three… two… one…" SPLASH! Gil laughed and laughed and laughed until Alice and Oz came back in, dripping and shivering. Smiling, Gil ran up to embrace the pair in a big hug.

Following that, everything returned to normal. Break still annoyed the hell out of Gil, Alice still called Break "Damn Clown", Sharon continued to teach Alice and Alyss about love, using her vast collection of books, Gil and Alice still called each other "Seaweed head" and "Stupid Rabbit", although with less spite, and everyone was able to continue smiling and laughing, because life was perfect.

A few weeks after Vincent and Echo's wedding, they received word of an illegal contractor, not unlike the first one Oz had come across (see episode 7) and they needed to go and confront him. Oz couldn't help laughing at the expressions on Gil and Cheshire's faces as he climbed into the carriage that would take them to Reveille, they clearly weren't happy about being made to sit next to each other.

"Where's Alice and Alyss?" Oz asked as he sat down. Suddenly, the twins burst into the carriage.

"Let's go!" Alice shouted, wild-eyed.

"Are you excited about looking for another memory, Alice?" Oz asked, smiling as she sat next to him.

"What? Yeah, whatever. Let's move! Come on!" Alice shouted again, and both twins sighed with relief when the carriage started to move.

"What's going on?" Oz asked confused.

"Well…"

"My books!" Sharon's scream cut across Alyss's beginning of an explanation. Looking out the back window, Oz could see flames in the window of Sharon's study.

"We had to do it!" Alyss exclaimed in self-defense, "If she tried to make us read any more of those books…"

"You burned Wuthering Heights! I hadn't even read it yet!" Sharon screamed, turning to face the departing carriage, paper fan clutched in her fist.

Oz couldn't help laughing as the mansion got further and further away. Yes, life was perfect.

* * *

A/N: This was a crap ending, but I just wanted to get this over with. Seriously, it's been going on for so long.

I'm sure you're all thinking "Why would she burn Sharon's books? Why specifically mention 'Wuthering Heights'?" Well, I just had a literature exam today, so I thought I would sacrifice some books to the god/goddess/deity of Literature as an offering for a good grade i.e. something that would get me into university. I specifically mentioned Wuthering Heights because I hate it with a passion and, since I can't burn it in real life, I thought I would burn it here instead. I'm sure if I'd read it by choice, I would have liked it, but having to study it was like having all your teeth pulled out.

Anyway, after a year and a half, I have finally finished! I had no idea that this would go on for so long, or that it would take this many random tangents and new plot lines! Thank you so much for all your reviews, and for sticking with this to the end. Thank you for putting up with the randomness of this, my consistently late updates, and the fact that everyone was massively OOC. I love you all!


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